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Results for “MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Unequal-Arms Michelson Interferometers

Michelson interferometers allow phase measurements many orders of magnitude below the phase stability of the laser light injected into their two almost equal-length arms.

Gravitational↗
NASA NTRS2000

Unequal-Arms Michelson Interferometers

Michelson interferometers allow phase measurements many orders of magnitude below the phase stability of the laser light injected into their two almost equal-length arms. If, however, the two arms are unequal, the laser fluctuations can not be removed by simply recombining the two beams. This is because the laser jitters experience different time delays in the two arms, and therefore can not cancel at the photo detector. We present here a method for achieving exact laser noise cancellation, even in an unequal-arm interferometer. The method presented in this paper requires a separate readout of the relative phase in each arm, made by interfering the returning beam in each arm with a fraction of the outgoing beam. By linearly combining the two data sets with themselves, after they have been properly time shifted, we show that it is possible to construct a new data set that is free of laser fluctuations. An application of this technique to future planned space-based laser interferometer detector3 of gravitational radiation is discussed.

Tinto, Massimo↗
NASA NTRS1999

Unequal-Arms Michelson Interferometers

Michelson interferometers allow phase measurements many orders of magnitude below the phase stability of the laser light injected into their two almost equal-length arms. If, however, the two arms are unequal, the laser fluctuations can not be removed by simply recombining the two beams. This is because the laser jitters experience different time delays in the two arms, and therefore can not cancel at the photo detector. We present here a method for achieving exact laser noise cancellation, even in an unequal-arm interferometer. The method presented in this paper requires a separate readout of the relative phase in each arm, made by interfering the returning beam in each arm with a fraction of the outgoing beam. By linearly combining the two data sets with themselves, after they have been properly time-shifted, we show that it is possible to construct a new data set that is free of laser fluctuations. An application of this technique to future planned space-based laser interferometer detectors of gravitational radiation is discussed.

Tinto, Massimo↗
NASA NTRS1970

The Nimbus III Michelson interferometer

Michelson IR interferometer spectrometer /IRIS/ design calibration and performance onboard Nimbus 3 satellite, demonstrating data reduction and inflight calibration

Chaney, L.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Michelson Interferometer

The Michelson Interferometer is a device used in many applications, but here it was used to measure small differences in distance, in the milli-inch range, specifically for defects in the Orbiter windows. In this paper, the method of using the Michelson Interferometer for measuring small distances is explained as well as the mathematics of the system. The coherence length of several light sources was calculated in order to see just how small a defect could be measured. Since white light is a very broadband source, its coherence length is very short and thus can be used to measure small defects in glass. After finding the front and back reflections from a very thin glass slide with ease and calculating the thickness of it very accurately, it was concluded that this system could find and measure small defects on the Orbiter windows. This report also discusses a failed attempt for another use of this technology as well as describes an area of promise for further analysis. The latter of these areas has applications for finding possible defects in Orbiter windows without moving parts.

Rogers, Ryan↗
DOE OSTI2016

First Measurements of High Frequency Cross-Spectra from a Pair of Large Michelson Interferometers

Measurements are reported of the cross-correlation of spectra of differential position signals from the Fermilab Holometer, a pair of colocated 39 m long, high power Michelson interferometers with flat broadband frequency response in the MHz range. The instrument obtains sensitivity to high frequency correlated signals far exceeding any previous measurement in a broad frequency band extending beyond the 3.8 MHz inverse light-crossing time of the apparatus. The dominant but uncorrelated shot noise is averaged down over 2×108 independent spectral measurements with 381 Hz frequency resolution to obtain 2.1×10-20m/Hz sensitivity to stationary signals. For signal bandwidths Δf>11 kHz, the sensitivity to strain h or shear power spectral density of classical or exotic origin surpasses a milestone PSDδh

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1972

Mariner 9 Michelson interferometer.

The Michelson interferometer on Mariner 9 measures the thermal emission spectrum of Mars between 200 and 2000 per cm (between 5 and 50 microns) with a spectral resolution of 2.4 per cm in the apodized mode. A noise equivalent radiance of 0.5 x 10 to the minus 7th W/sq cm/ster/cm is deduced from data recorded in orbit around Mars. The Mariner interferometer deviates in design from the Nimbus 3 and 4 interferometers in several areas, notably, by a cesium iodide beam splitter and certain aspects of the digital information processing. Special attention has been given to the problem of external vibration. The instrument performance is demonstrated by calibration data and samples of Mars spectra.

Hanel, R.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spatio-temporal coherence of free-electron laser radiation in the extreme ultraviolet determined by a Michelson interferometer

A key feature of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation from free-electron lasers (FELs) is its spatial and temporal coherence. We measured the spatio-temporal coherence properties of monochromatized FEL pulses at 13.5 nm using a Michelson interferometer. A temporal coherence time of (59±8) fs has been determined, which is in good agreement with the spectral bandwidth given by the monochromator. Moreover, the spatial coherence in vertical direction amounts to about 15% of the beam diameter and about 12% in horizontal direction. The feasibility of measuring spatio-temporal coherence properties of XUV FEL radiation using interferometric techniques advances machine operation and experimental studies significantly.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The effect of rotations on Michelson interferometers

In the contest of the special theory of relativity, it is shown that uniform rotations induce a phase shift in Michelson interferometers. The effect is second order in the ratio of the interferometer’s speed to the speed of light, further suppressed by the ratio of the interferometer’s arms length to the radius of rotation and depends on the interferometer’s position in the co-rotating frame. The magnitude of the phase shift is just beyond the sensitivity of turntable rotated optical resonators used in present tests of Lorentz invariance. It grows significantly large in Earth’s rotated kilometer-scale Fabry–Perot enhanced interferometric gravitational-wave detectors where it appears as a constant bias. The effect can provide the means of sensing center and radius of rotations. - Highlights: • Rotations induce a phase shift in Michelson interferometers. • Earth’s rotation induces a constant bias in Michelson interferometers. • Michelson interferometers can be used to sense center and radius of rotations.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

An extreme ultraviolet Michelson interferometer for experiments at free-electron lasers

We present a Michelson interferometer for 13.5 nm soft x-ray radiation. It is characterized in a proof-of-principle experiment using synchrotron radiation, where the temporal coherence is measured to be 13 fs. The curvature of the thin-film beam splitter membrane is derived from the observed fringe pattern. The applicability of this Michelson interferometer at intense free-electron lasers is investigated, particularly with respect to radiation damage. This study highlights the potential role of such Michelson interferometers in solid density plasma investigations using, for instance, extreme soft x-ray free-electron lasers. A setup using the Michelson interferometer for pseudo-Nomarski-interferometry is proposed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1993

Michelson Interferometer (MINT)

MINT is a Michelson interferometer designed to measure the thermal emission from the earth at high spectral resolution (2/cm) over a broad spectral range (250-1700/cm, 6-40 mu m) with contiguous 3-pixel wide (12 mrad, 8 km field of view) along-track sampling. MINT is particularly well suited for monitoring cloud properties (cloud cover, effective temperature, optical thickness, ice/water phase, and effective particle size) both day and night, as well as tropospheric water vapor, ozone, and temperature. The key instrument characteristics that make MINT ideally suited for decadal monitoring purposes are: high wavelength to wavelength precision across the full IR spectrum with high spectral resolution; space-proven long-term durability and calibration stability; and small size, low cost, low risk instrument incorporating the latest detector and electronics technology. MINT also incorporates simplicity in design and operation by utilizing passively cooled DTGS detectors and nadir viewing geometry (with target motion compensation). MINT measurement objectives, instrument characteristics, and key advantages are summarized in this paper.

Lacis, Andrew↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-T-410: Fringe Stability and Phase Shift Measurements in a Michelson Interferometer for Optical Calorimetry

Purpose: To identify the variables limiting the resolution of a Michelson interferometer used to measure phase shifts (PS) in water as part of a radiometric calorimeter. Methods: We investigated the output stability of a He-Ne laser and a laser diode. The short and long term stability of the fringe pattern in a Michelson interferometer was tested with different types of lasers, thermal insulation arrangements, damping systems and optical mounts to optimize system performance. PS were induced by electrically heating water in a 1 cm quartz cuvette located in one of the interferometer arms. The PS was calculated from fringe intensity changes and compared to a calculated PS using thermocouple-measured temperature changes in the water. Results: The intensity of the laser diode is more stable, but the gas laser’s profile is more suitable for fringe analysis and has better temporal coherence. The laser requires a warm-up time of 4 hours before its output is stabilized (SNR>95). The fringe’s stability strongly depends on the thermal insulation. When the interferometer is exposed to ambient temperature swings of 0.7 K, it is not possible to stabilize the fringe pattern. Enclosing the system in a 2.5 cm-thick Styrofoam box improves the SNR, but further insulation will be needed to increase the SNR above 50. High frequency noise is significantly reduced by damping the system.Inducing a temperature rise in water, starting at 299 K, the average temperature increase for a 2π PS is 0.29 ± 0.02 K and the proportionality constant is -21.1 ± 0.8 radians/K. This is 5.8% lower than the calculated value using the thermocouple. Conclusion: Interferometric PS measurements of temperature may provide an alternative to thermistors for water calorimetry. The resolution of the current prototype is limited by ambient temperature stability. Calculated and measured thermally-induced PS in water agreed to within 5.8%.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗