Fabry-Perot interferometer in Brillouin scattering experiments

The Fabry-Perot interferometer has become a standard spectroscopic tool in scientific laboratories for the study of Brillouin scattering. This article examines some basic properties of the Fabry-Perot interferometer with the student or beginning user in mind in order to demonstrate why it is especially useful for this application. Single and complex Fabry-Perot systems in use for Brillouin scattering studies are discussed starting from elementary equations to show, in particular, how the half-width of the transmission function depends upon the instrumental configuration. The primary results are summarized in graphical form. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.