A Martin-Puplett cartridge FIR interferometer

A compact prealigned Martin-Puplett interferometer (MPI) cartridge for plasma interferometry is described. The MPI cartridge groups all components of a MP interferometer, with the exception of the end mirror for the scene beam, on a stand-alone rigid platform. The interferometer system is completed by positioning a cartridge anywhere along and coaxial with the scene beam, considerably reducing the amount of effort in alignment over a discrete component layout. This allows the interferometer to be expanded to any number of interferometry chords consistent with optical access, limited only by the laser power. The cartridge interferometer has been successfully incorporated as a second chord on the Helicity Injected Torus II (HIT-II) far infrared interferometer system and a comparison with the discrete component system is presented. Given the utility and compactness of the cartridge, a possible design for a five-chord interferometer arrangement on the HIT-II device is described. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.