REAL-TIME INTERFEROMETRIC MEASUREMENTS OF DISPERSION-CURVES

A new procedure for real time interferometric measurement of the refra ctive index as a function of wavelength is presented. The technique co nsists in the spectral analysis of the interferogram which is build up when the specimen is placed in a Michelson interferometer illuminated with a broad-continuous spectrum light source. The interferogram disp layed in the spectral domain stores the refractive index as a function of wavelength. No special shape is required for the specimen, even wh en the parallelism between its faces allows to increase precision whic h can attain 10(-6) for the refractive index at each resolved waveleng th. Experimental examples for optical glass and rhodamine solutions ar e presented.