Institution: | aALG, HP, RC and JC are in the Laboratorio de Optica, Departamento de Física, Universidad Simón Bolívar, AP 89000. Caracas 1080A, Venezuela bCS is in the Departamento de Física, Universidad Metropolitana, AP 76819, Caracas 1070A, Venezuela |
Abstract: | A new procedure to measure the spatial distribution of the refractive index in transparent media is presented. It is based on the spectral analysis of optical interferograms obtained from a wide, continuous-spectrum light source. The method yields fairly high precision (up to 10-8) in the measurements of local values of differential refractive index, Δn (Δn=n?nref), along a line in the sample. By means of a CCD TV-camera linked to a microcomputer, fast recording and automatic data processing are achieved. As an application, we present an experimental study of a thermal gradient in a liquid sample. |