Michelson-Morley interferometer variant based on air-water diopter as a beam splitter

The Michelson-Morley interferometer has been used in the most diverse applications since its construction in 1887 by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley to measure the speed of the earth with regard to the ether. Despite the simplicity of its assembly, the instrument still finds relevant applications nowadays. In this work, we present the computational simulation and construction of a variant of the Michelson-Morley interferometer using the air-water diopter as a beam splitter. The proposed modification shows significance in promoting the discussion about many concepts related to physics and engineering. The assembly employed a red laser centered at 630 nm, with linear polarization oriented at an angle of about 45^∘ from the plane of incidence, as an excitation source and two first surface mirrors to reflect the beams reflected and refracted at the diopter – a CCD camera captured the circular interference images on the screen. The analysis of the wave intensities employed the Finite Element Method.

Keywords:
Interference; air-water diopter; beam splitter