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Tabletop Michelson interferometer
Adjustable optical mounts for splitting and recombining a laser beam to produce an interference pattern.
Open the numbered review →Optical layout
Photos 180–181
Photo 180 · No date found
A tabletop Michelson interferometerA Michelson interferometer assembled with laser-cut mounts for the laser, beam splitter, and two first-surface mirrors. Adjustment screws let me fine-tune the optical alignment. The bright and dark bands on the paper screen are interference fringes, produced when the light traveling along the two paths recombines.
Photo 181 · No date found
The interferometer from another angleAnother view of the tabletop Michelson interferometer and its adjustable optical mounts. Building the holders and aligning the components was a hands-on way to explore how two light paths combine to form an interference pattern.