August 31, 2017

Primary author:Abdu Subahan M(IMS15003)

Comment to zakir12315@iisertvm.ac.in
Fabry-Perot Interferometer
(Dated: August 31, 2017)
The Fabry-Perot interferometer uses the phenomenon of multiple beam interference that arises
when light shines through a cavity bounded by two reflective parallel surfaces. Each time the light
encounters one of the surfaces, a portion of it is transmitted out, and the remaining part is reflected
back. The net effect is to break a single beam into multiple beams which interfere with each other.
If the additional optical path length of the reflected beam (due to multiple reflections) is an integral
multiple of the light’s wavelength, then the reflected beams will interfere constructively. More is
the number of reflection inside the cavity, sharper is the interference maximum.Using fabry-perot
interferometer here we try To determine the distance between the two plates of an etalon of using
and calculate the fineness.

Principle of Working ∆=n(AB+BC)-AD

d
The basic principle of working of the Fabry-Perot in- AB= cos(β)
terferometer is schematically explained in figure1.
Two partial mirrors G1 and G2 are aligned parallel AD=(2dtanβ)sinα

AD=2dtanβ(nsinβ)
FIG. 1: Schematics of a Fabry-Perot Interferomete

FIG. 2: Calculation of path difference

to one another at a distance d, forming a reflective cav-

ity. When irradiated by a monochromatic light (a laser
here) of wavelength λ at an angle of incidence θ, mul-
tiple reflection takes place inside the cavity. Part of the
light is transmitted each time the light reaches the second
reflecting surface. All such transmitted light rays inter- Thus, the resultant transmitted light intensity IT is:
fere with each other to give rise to a maxima or minima
depending on the path difference them. Let n be the re- 1
IT = I0 4R 2δ
(3)
fractive index of the medium in the cavity (in this case 1 + ( (1−R)2 )sin 2

it is air). Then the optical path difference between two where, I0 is the incident intensity, R is the reflectiv-
neighboring rays is: ity of the mirrors. It can be noticed that IT varies with δ.
∆ = 2ndcos(θ) (1)
IT is maximum when
Then the phase difference is given by ∆ = mλ (m = 0, 1, 2, ...) or δ = 2mπ (4)
2π And minimum When
δ=( )∆ (2)
λ λ
∆ = (2m + 1) (m = 0, 1, 2, ...) or δ = (2m + 1)π (5)
In the figure2 path difference is shown for a general 2
cavity is shown where α and β are the angles of incidence The complete interference pattern appears as a set of
and refraction, respectively concentric rings. The sharpness of the rings depends on
Then, a parameter called coefficient of finesse, F, defined as
4R
F= (1−R)2 .
 2

Determination of wavelength λ: From the Data its found that,

Calibration constant,K=.00158
Using the relations 1 and 4 (or 5) wavelength of the Wave length of green laser, λ=530nm
incident light can be determined accurately. Let the
initial separation between the mirrors is d1 . If one
counts the number of fringes (say maxima) appearing 2
Radius (mm) Xn2 = Xm+n
2
− Xm2
(mm2 ) t = nD 2
λ
or disappearing at the centre (θ ≈ 0) by varying the Xn

distance between the mirrors to d2 , then λ can be Xm =45.5 0 0 mm 0 mm

determined as follows: Xm+1 = 35.3 10.2 104.4 mm 2.7
2d1 = m1 λ 2d2 = m2 λ Xm+2 = 30.9 14.6 102.96 5.80
m2 − m1 = N umberof maximacounted(N ) Xm+3 = 26.4 19.1 157.45 5.52

2(d2 − d1 ) Distance between the etalon plate = 4.67mm

λ= (6)
N
Reference:BORN, Max and WOLF, Emil ”Princi-
If you consider calibration constant K ples Of Optics” ,1970
MEABURN, John, ”Dedection And Spectrometry Of
2(d2 − d1 )K Faint Light”, 1976
λ= (7)
N LONGHURST, R.S., ”Geometrical And Physical Op-
tics”, 1967
No.of fringes Distance moved Average
PEDROTTI SJ,Frank L.,PEDROTTI Leno S. ”Intro-
20 2.95
duction To Optics”, 1993
20 3.09
20 3.63 3.35
20 3.51
20 3.60
31 août 2017
Primary author :Abdu Subahan M
Comment to abdusubahan007@gmail.com
Laser Beam Profile
(Dated: 31 août 2017)
A laser beam profiler captures, displays, and records the spatial intensity profile of a laser beam
at a particular plane transverse to the beam propagation path. Since there are many types of
lasers — ultraviolet, visible, infrared, continuous wave, pulsed, high-power, low-power — there is
an assortment of instrumentation for measuring laser beam profiles. No single laser beam profiler
can handle every power level, pulse duration, repetition rate, wavelength, and beam size.In this
experiment We find the angle of divergence and beam spot size of a laser given.

Principle of Working Beam Divergence : The beam divergence of an elec-

tromagnetic beam is an angular measure of the increase
The laser that we are working with is a rectangular one. in beam diameter with distance from the optical aper-
So, any measurement done should has two primary orien- ture from which the electromagnetic beam emerges. It is
tation taken into consideration and the results should be given by
given for both the orientations separately. w1 − w2
The setup is very simple. We have a laser and a detec- θ= (1)
d
where w1 and w2 are the beam spot sizes of a lase
Figure 1: beam mounted at two points separated by a distance d.
ie, if one knows the beam diameter at two separate points
(w1 , w2 ), and the distance (d) between these points.(ie,
d=Z1 -Z2 ) The beam divergence is given by
w1 − w2
θ = 2arctan (2)
d
For the laser we observe that the divergence is very less.
So, we can approximate tanθ to θ.Hence giving
tor(for measuring the intensity) set on an optical bread- w1 − w2
board. We have few attachments like a disperser and a θ= (3)
d
small aperture cap Which can be fixed on the detector.
Firstly, we start wit the alignment of the laser beam. We The divergence of a laser beam is proportional to its wa-
can do this by slowly adjusting the laser in it’s support velength and inversely proportional to the diameter of
while checking the intensity pattern along two virtual the beam at its narrowest point.
horizontal lines at different heights on the beam cross-
d (mm) I (mA)
section. After this is done, we fix a distance for the detec-
0 0
tor and take intensity measurements of the beam along
2 0.1
a horizontal line passing the point with the maximum
3 0.5
intensity. This can be repeated with variants like with
4 0.9
disperser alone, with cap alone, with disperser and cap.
5 1.2
Similar readings can betaken for the vertical orientation
6 4.2
of the laser beam too.
7 6.0
For calculating the beam divergence, we calculate the
8 6.0
maximum intensity of the beam, which helps in calcula-
9 5.7
ting the beam spot size, at different distances from the
10 4.2
laser with the help of the optical bread board. These can
11 2.5
also be tabulated and the resulting calculations lead to
12 1.5
the necessary results.
13 .9
Beam Spot Size : Beam Diameter is defined as the 14 0.4
distance across the center of the beam for which the irra- 15 0
diance(I) equals e12 of the maximum irradiance. The spot
size of the beam if the radial distance from the center of maximum value of ’ I ’ = 6
maximum irradiance to the e12 points. from graph, radius of spot at 550mm = 3.75mm
 2

From graph radius of spot at 650 mm=4.001mm

Figure 2: For Slow axis at Z1 =550mm
Angle of Divergence = 0.00251rad in 10cm

d (mm) I (mA)
0 0
2 0.1
3 0.7 Reference
4 1
5 1.9
6 6
7 7.4
For Slow axis at Z2 =650mm
8 7.2
9 6.4
10 5.9
11 3.6 1. Darchuk, J. (1991, May). Beam profilers beat
12 2.25 laser-tuning process. Laser Focus World, pp. 205212.
13 1.5
14 0.6 2. Forrest, G. (1994, September). Measure for mea-
15 0 sure (Letters). Laser Focus World, p. 55.

3. Langhans, L. (1994, September). Measure for

Figure 3: For Slow axis at Z2 =650mm measure (Letters). Laser Focus World, p. 55.

4. Roundy, C. B. (1990, June). A beam profiler

that stands alone. Lasers And Optronics, p. 81.

5. Roundy, C. B. (1990, July). The importance of

beam profile. Physics World, pp. 65-66.

6. Roundy, C. B. (1994, March). Instrumentation

for laser beam profile measurement. Industrial Laser
Review, pp. 5-9.