White-light Fizeau interferometer

A white-light Fizeau interferometer is described. Commonly, white-light fringes can be produced only by using a virtual wedge instrument such as a Michelson interferometer. By use of a series arrangement of a Fabry-Perot interferometer in front of a two-beam Fizeau interferometer, white-light fringes can be produced. For white-light fringes to be obtained, the thickness of the air gap between the Fizeau plates has to be adjusted to the same thickness as the air gap between the Fabry-Perot plates (or in more general terms to a rational multiple of this value). The contrast of the two-beam type of Fizeau fringes depends on the reflectivity of the Fabry-Perot plates. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.