Abstract

We present a simple analytic solution for the condition of constructive interference for light transmitted through an interferometer incorporating three ideally transparent layers of arbitrary thickness and refractive index. We also consider the effect of adding two metallic coatings to the outer surfaces of the interferometer and give empirical expressions for the associated phase changes for silver coatings on silica, sapphire, and mica substrates. A particular application to fringes of equal chromatic order can be utilized to obtain precise measurements of the thickness of extremely thin films sandwiched between two substrates.

© 1991 Optical Society of America

Experimental phase changes at the mica–silver interface illustrate the experimental accuracy of the central film thickness in a symmetrical three-layer interferometer

Brenda Farrell, Anita I. Bailey, and Dennis Chapman
Appl. Opt. 34(16) 2914-2920 (1995)

Eigenvalue analysis of the surface forces apparatus interferometer

P. Rabinowitz
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 12(7) 1593-1601 (1995)

Influence of coating thickness on the performance of a Fabry–Perot interferometer

J. J. Monzón, L. L. Sánchez-Soto, and E. Bernabeu
Appl. Opt. 30(28) 4126-4132 (1991)

Accurate determination of solid and liquid dispersions from spectra channeled with the Fabry–Perot interferometer

Mahmoud A. Khashan and Aly Y. Nassif
Appl. Opt. 36(27) 6843-6851 (1997)

Absorbing beam splitter in a Michelson interferometer

J. J. Monzón and L. L. Sánchez-Soto
Appl. Opt. 34(34) 7834-7839 (1995)