OPTICS (PHY224A)

Problem Set 4 (Interference 1)

Venkata Jayasurya Y.

Semester 2022-2023-I

1. Consider the interference pattern produced by two slits which are a distance a
apart (shown in the Figure below) using light of wavelength λ0 in air.

(a) Derive an expression of the fringe pattern on the screen placed at a distance
d >> a, assuming the waves arriving at the screen are simply plane waves.
(b) What would happen if the light from one of the slits is phase shifted by π?
(c) Now, consider light that consists of two wavelengths, λ0 and λ0 + ∆λ with
equal amplitudes. Calculate and sketch/describe the interference pattern in
this case. Assume ∆λ << λ0 .

2. Consider the Michelson interferometer shown in the figure below.

(a) Assume the light from the laser is monochromatic. When d1 is increased by
25 µm, it is observed that 92 whole fringe pairs, bright and dark, pass by in
the process. Determine the wavelength of the incident beam.
max −Imin
(b) The visibility of fringes at the screen is defined as V = IImax +Imin Suppose
the beamsplitter is imperfect, such that it transmits 60% and reflects 40%.
Calculate the visibility of fringes in this case.

1
(c) If the error in measuring d1 is 1 µm, and the error in counting fringes is at
most one fringe, estimate the possible error in the wavelength determined this
way.
(d) Suppose we place a chamber 10 cm long with flat parallel windows in one arm
of the interferometer (similar to the chamber used in your experiment with
glucose) that is being illuminated with 600 nm light. If the refractive index of
air is 1.00029 and all the air is pumped out of the chamber, how many fringe
pairs will shift by in the process?