Abstract
The transfer functions (σ) of infrared spectrometers for incoherent illumination are determined using a lamellar grating interferometer. The spectrometer is illuminated with incoherent radiation and the spectral distribution S(ν − ν0) of its output radiation is studied with the interferometer. The interferometer output F(σ) is the Fourier transform of S(ν − ν0), and the envelope of F(σ) yields directly the transfer function (σ) of the spectrometer. This technique is used rather than the usual one of using a narrow spectral line because no such lines from thermal sources are available in the far-infrared. Laser radiation is unsuitable because it would yield the transfer function of a spectrometer in coherent radiation and this function is of no use for the majority of experiments where the spectrometer is incoherently illuminated. Experimental measurements show a good agreement with theoretically predicted results.
© 1966 Optical Society of America
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