Abstract

A three beam interferometer, which has recently been used to measure the time constant associated with kinetic cooling, is described in detail. Design features necessitated by operation of the device over a 5-m path are discussed, as well as system response to vibrational noise and drift, and means used for their monitoring and control. The effective working length resolution of the system, dL/L, was 1 part in 2.6 × 10⁹ with a He–Ne laser source operating at 0.63 μm.

© 1973 Optical Society of America

Absorption Saturation Effects on High-Power CO₂ Laser Beam Transmission

David C. Pridmore-Brown
Appl. Opt. 12(9) 2188-2191 (1973)

Kinetic cooling observation with a cw CO₂ laser

T. W. Walker, G. F. Bock, and R. Heimlich
Appl. Opt. 16(5) 1342-1344 (1977)

Kinetic Model for Thermal Blooming in the Atmosphere

H. E. Bass and H.-J. Bauer
Appl. Opt. 12(7) 1506-1510 (1973)

Lens Testing with a Simple Wavefront Shearing Interferometer

D. Nyyssonen and J. M. Jerke
Appl. Opt. 12(9) 2061-2070 (1973)

Thermally Induced Nonlinear Propagation of a Laser Beam in an Absorbing Fluid Medium

Luc R. Bissonnette
Appl. Opt. 12(4) 719-728 (1973)