Abstract

We have been investigating the transmission profile of a multi-beam Fizeau interferometer (MBFI) illuminated by mutually coherent light incident from several directions at once. We report calculations of the field-of- view (FOV) dependence of the transmission line shape and the results of laboratory measurements that explore the validity of these calculations. The experiments were done with a temperature stabilized MBFI that analyzed collimated light scattered from a rotating diffuser that was illuminated by a stabilized He–Ne laser (623.8 nm) through intermediate optics that varied the FOV. The fringes were scanned either by a photo-multiplier or by a linear photodiode array and were digitally recorded. At fixed incidence angle, measured fringe profiles agree with standard calculations.^1,2 The laboratory data for FOVs ≤1 mrad are compared with the results of our code, which employs two-dimensional numerical integration over incidence angle to approximate the effects of fringe superposition.

© 1992 Optical Society of America