Introduction
Reverse shear interferometry is a technique used in optical wave inspection and has led to significant simplifications in the equipment required for this purpose. Recent developments have made it possible to construct a compact, portable interferometer for inspecting large-scale optical systems, and several tools are now available from manufacturers of optical equipment. However, a reverse shear interferometric system can be utilized in a simpler setup that is already being used for another purpose. This is the beam splitter used in photometric measurement to divide a light beam into two. It consists of two similar right-angle prisms glued together at their hypotenusal faces after one face has been coated with a partially reflecting layer. The applications of this prism in longitudinal interference were first described by Kösters, but the prism is also very useful as a reverse interferometer.
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References
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About the Authors
– National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex
– J. W. GATES
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About This Article
– GATES, J. Reverse-Shearing Interferometry. Nature 176, 359–360 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/176359a0
Cited Articles
– Complete characterization of ultrashort optical pulses with a phase-shifting wedged reversal shearing interferometer by Billy Lam and Chunlei Guo. Light: Science & Applications (2018).
– Cube beam-splitter interferometer for phase shifting interferometry by N. Ghosh and K. Bhattacharya. Journal of Optics (2009).
– A Single Element Birefringence-Sensitive Interferometer by N. Ghosh, A. K. Chakraborty, and K. Bhattacharya. Journal of Optics (2008).
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