A POSSIBLE METHOD TO MEASURE ACCURATELY THE REFRACTIVE-INDEX OF A TRANSPARENT LIQUID

An analysis is made of some characteristics of the propagation of a li ght wave through a semiconductor-gap-semiconductor structure, where th e thickness of the gap between the parallel planes of the crystals is of the order of a micron. It is shown that a combination of multiple r eflection and interference processes produces an exponential dependenc e of the transmitted radiation intensity on the refractive index of th e material filling the gap. This circumstance can be used to set up a simple method for accurate determination of the refractive index of a transparent liquid. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.