Alignment of a two-beam interferometerTwo beam interferometers have been proposed for space applications such as sensing the shape of a large antenna. Since alignment and adjustment of interferometers have long been considered difficult laboratory tasks, the question of making their operation sufficiently automatic for space applications is a serious one. As a first step in addressing this question certain manual procedures, which may not be well known, have been collected from widely scattered sources. These techniques are illustrated by two examples: (1) the alignment of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and the adjustment of fringe location. (2) The adjustment of a Michelson interferometer for zero path difference (white light fringes).
Document ID
19810055184
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Tubbs, E. F. (California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA, United States)