Abstract

A novel Interferometer similar to a cube beam splitter has been constructed (Fig. 1) from two prisms whose index of refraction differs very slightly. The index mismatched interferometer (IMI) is unlike a cube beam splitter in that the two surfaces usually used by the exiting beams have been totally silvered, thus making a small Michelson-type interferometer that is of solid material. Unlike the Michelson, in which the interference is detected at a single point, the IMI output is a fringe pattern that is detected by a photodiode array along a perpendicular to the beam propagation direction.

© 1988 Optical Society of America