Pulsed laser interferometry (PLI) in the analytical ultracentrifuge: I. System design

Abstract

A description is given of a pulsed argon ion laser light source that is synchronized with rotor orientation in the analytical ultracentrifuge. The system described provides improved fringe contrast and resolution. In addition the light intensity passed by the optical system is several orders of magnitude greater than the usual high-resolution Rayleigh system so that either exposure times may be reduced to single flashes of 6 μsec on the usual photographic plates or, alternatively, slower emulsions of much higher resolution may be utilized in a practical manner.