Phase conjugate Twyman-Green interferometer for testing spherical surfaces and lenses and for measuring refractive indices of liquids or solid transparent materials

Abstract

The present paper describes an application of a phase conjugate Twyman-Green interferometer using barium titanate as a self-pumping mirror for testing optical components like concave and convex spherical mirrors, and lenses. The aberrations introduced by the beam splitter while testing concave or convex spherical mirrors of large aperture are automatically eliminated due to self-focussing property of the phase conjugate mirror. There is no necessity for a good spherical surface as a reference surface unlike in classical Twyman-Green interferometer or Williams interferometer. The phase conjugate Twyman Green interferometer with a divergent illumination can be used as a test plate for checking spherical surfaces. A non-destructive technique for measuring the refractive indices of a Fabry Perot etalon by using a phase conjugate interferometer is also suggested. The interferometer is found to be useful for measuring the refractive indices of liquids and solid transparent materials with an accuracy of the order of ± 0.0004.