Interferometric determination of refraction and dispersion of a birefringent material: numerical procedure

Air, liquid and solid sample interferometric gaps of the same thickness and simultaneously enclosed in a wedge interferometer are used to produce fringes of equal chromatic order. A mica sample of dimensions 2 x 5 mm(2) and an immersion liquid of the same refractive index are used. A single shot interferogram containing fringes in the three gaps is sufficient to deduce the needed experimental data. Locations of fringe maxima are introduced in a numerical procedure to retrieve the sample and liquid refractive indices across the visible spectrum. The numerical procedure is based on a simple dispersion function of wavelength and wavenumber. A modified two-term Sellmeier dispersion formula has been used for fitting the experimental data and deducing the needed dispersion parameters. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.