Linear propagation of light investigated with a white-light Michelson interferometer

Linear propagation of light was investigated by using a white-light Michelson interferometer. This method gives the full information on the deformation of broadband optical pulses by the passage through samples in the linear regime. We observed the delay of pulse propagation for cobalt chloride in pyridine, free-induction decay signal for oxazine 1 in methanol, and the increase of peak velocity for nigrosine in water. by Fourier analysis of the interferograms, complex optical constants of the samples were also obtained. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.