Construction of a Tabletop Michelson Interferometer

The pupose of this page is to descrive the work being doe in the constrction of a tabletop Micheson Interferometer. The pupose of this device in thescope of thi project is two fold. FIrst, the interferometer can be ued to analyze te vibrational characteristics of a diamond waffer suspended from awireframe. Second, the interferometer can be used to study the surface profle of a diamond waffer, allowing us to see the efects that different cutting and mounting tecniqus have on the final product.

Parts List
The following is a lis of the prts used in the construction of the inerferometer, along with a brief descripton of the parts.


 * Determining the angle of the diffraction minimum for a circular aperture

Estimating Camera Sensitivity
It is critical to understand the sensitivity of the camera to light from the interferometer, given the high intended image acquisition speed. The camera purchased for this setup, Casio EX-F1, has a movie frame rate capability of 1200 Hz. The following information allows an order of magnitude estimate of the sensitivity. (The camera uses a CMOS sensor. Note that lx=lm&middot;m2)


 * a sample CMOS chip, Micron's MT9P401, has sensitivity of 1.4 V/lx&middot;s and supply voltage of 2.8 V yielding 2 lx&middot;s of light energy to saturation.
 * Light intensity conversion - 320 lm/W given:
 * a 100 W incandescent light bulb is measured to have the perceived intensity of about 1600 lm
 * a rough figure of efficiency for a 100 W is 5%

Using these conversions, the sensor pixels saturate at 6.3&times;10-3 W&middot;m2&middot;s. At 1200 Hz acquisition rate, assuming 100% duty cycle, the saturation figure is 5.2&times;10-6 W&middot;m.

Now, let us assume that only about 5% of 1 mW laser light reaches the sensor due to cleanup in the beam expander and the light transmitted through the diamond. If the light is expanded to a 2 cm diameter beam, the beam at the sensor is rated at 1.6&times;10-8 W&middot;m2

The two order of magnitude shortfall means that very little of the dynamic range of the sensor will be used, leading to a low signal to noise ratio. Increasing the specification of the laser to 5 mW may be called for as a result.


 * Parts List


 * Parts List


 * Interferograms


 * Analysis of heat equation for diamond mounting