Improvement of the degree of spatial coherence in a Michelson interferometer.
The visibility of fringes of equal thickness of an approximately plane parallel plate illuminated by a quasi-monochromatic primary source is expressed in terms of the degree of longitudinal spatial coherence, i.e., the coherence of two points lying on a normal to the source. Use of polarization interferometers to increase the degree of coherence is discussed. This permits the use of a large source in a Michelson interferometer even when its two armlengths differ significantly.
Françon
M
M
Institut d'Optique de Paris, Boulevard Pasteur, Paris, France.
Mallick
S
S