Abstract

We investigate the conditions under which an interferometer’s output is a function only of the difference between two optical lengths. In certain applications, such differential behavior, characteristic of the classical Michelson and Mach–Zehnder schemes [ M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics ( Pergamon, Oxford, 1980)], improves resilience to source frequency jitter. The question of whether systems of higher sensitivity than the Mach–Zehnder or Michelson schemes can have differential behavior is addressed, and it is proved that no linear differential scheme can have a sensitivity greater than that of the classical Michelson interferometer. It is also proved that the scattering matrix elements for a linear N port cannot be differential functions of the optical lengths within the network.

© 1995 Optical Society of America

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