Fabry Perot Interferometer Semester 6

Objectives:
➢​ To find the spacing of the Etalon.
➢​ To determine the wavelength of the laser beam.
➢​ To find the Finesse and free spectral range of the Etalon.

Materials/ Components Required:

Schematic of the setup:

Theory:
Fabry-Perot etalon contain plane surfaces that are partially reflecting so that
multiple rays of light are responsible for the creation of the observed interference
patterns. For high-resolution spectroscopy, where a resolution of MHz to GHz is
required, a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FP) is used. The FP consists of two plane mirrors
mounted accurately parallel to each other, with an optical spacing ‘d’ between them.

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To find the spacing of the Etalon:

​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (1)
Where n is the order, D is the distance between the etalon and the screen, λ is the
wavelength of light used.
​ (2)

is the square of the radius of (m+n)th ring and that of the mth ring.

Procedure:
●​ Fix the laser mount on the optical rail. Mount the GREEN LASER to the laser mount.
●​ Mount Fabry Perot Etalon on the optical rail near to the laser.
●​ Switch on the laser and make sure that the laser beam falls exactly at the centre
of Fabry Perot Etalon. If not, adjust the laser beam using the tilting knobs provided
on the laser mount.

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●​ Place the pinhole detector with mount on the rail carefully. Ensure that the laser
spot falling on the pinhole detector gives you the maximum current.
●​ Place a screen/ white paper in front of the pinhole detector. Looking on the screen
makes a single spot of laser using the knobs provided on the etalon.
●​ Now, fix the convex lens on the rail between the laser and the etalon to ensure
that the laser beam should pass through the centre of the lens. if not, adjust the
height of the convex lens.
●​ Now, you can see a circular interference pattern on the detector/screen.
●​ Adjust the height of the detector using the provided XY micrometres so that the
pinhole of the detector will initially coincide with the centre of the first bright ring.
●​ If the central ring is not bright, adjust another micrometre of the etalon to make
the central ring bright.
●​ Since the rings are circular, find the radius of each ring using any of the two
micrometres of the XY translation stage.

Bright
Radius Radius2
S. No fringe
(mm) (mm)2 (mm)2
(n) (mm)

1 m

2 m+1

3 m+2

4 m+3

5 m+4

6 m+5

7 m+6

8 m+7

Average spacing of the etalon t = ………………….. mm

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To determine the wavelength of the LASER:

Procedure:
●​ Carefully replace the Green Laser with the RED Laser.
●​ Don't disturb the Etalon.
●​ Repeat the procedure mentioned above to calculate the χn2.
●​ Calculate the wavelength of the laser using equation 1 with the known value of the
etalon spacing (Task 1).

Bright
Radius Radius2
S. No fringe
(mm) (mm)2
(n) (mm)2 (nm)

1 m

2 m+1

3 m+2

4 m+3

5 m+4

6 m+5

7 m+6

8 m+7

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To find the Free Spectral Range of Etalon and Finesse:

Where ‘c’ is the speed of light in air and ‘t’ is the spacing of the Etalon
The finesse is a measure of the interferometer's ability to resolve closely
spaced spectral lines. The finesse F is given by,

Where ‘R’ is the reflectivity of surfaces

In fact, the resolving power is given by the equation:

Where ‘N’ is the order of interference and ‘F’ is its finesse.

Calculations and Error Analysis:

Results & Inference:

References:
➔​ Optics, Eugene Hecht and A.R. Ganesan (2002) 4th Edition, Addison Wesley Longman.
➔​ Introduction to Modern Optics, Fowles (1989) Dover Publications.
➔​ Fundamentals of nonlinear optics by Powers, Peter E. (2015) CRC Press.
➔​ Introduction to solid state physics by Kittel, Charles (2016) Wiley India.
➔​ The Art of Experimental Physics, D.W. Preston and E.R. Dietz (1991) John Wiley.
➔​ An introduction to error analysis: the study of uncertainties in physical measurements, J.
R.Taylor, 2nd Edition(1997) University Science Books (Mill Valley, CA).

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