High-accuracy measurements of the refractive index and its temperature coefficient of calcium fluoride in a wide wavelength range from 138 to 2326 nm

The refractive indices of synthetic calcium fluoride for 69 wavelengths from 138 nm in the deep ultraviolet to 2326 nm in the near infrared were measured by the minimum-deviation method in a nitrogen environment. We made these measurements at 20degrees and 25 degreesC, respectively, to determine the thermal coefficients of the refractive index over this wide-wavelength region. These refractive indices were fitted to a four-term Sellmeier dispersion formula. The temperature coefficients of the refractive index were fitted to a Hoffman-type dispersion formula. The standard deviation of the residual between the observed values and the calculated values was 0.6 x 10(-6) for the refractive index and was 0.13 x 10(-6)/degreesC for the temperature coefficient of the refractive index. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.