Dispersive white-light spectral two-beam interference under general measurement conditions

Summary Spectral-domain interference of two beams from a white-light source is analysed theoretically and experimentally when the effects of both dispersion in an interferometer and the response function of a spectrometer are taken into account. The spectral interference law is expressed analytically under the condition of a Gaussian response function of a spectrometer. The theoretical analysis is accompanied by experiments employing a dispersive Michelson interferometer and a low-resolution spectrometer. Two experiments with different amounts of dispersion in the Michelson interferometer are realized giving rise to the spectral interference fringes resolved only in the vicinity of the so-called equalization wavelength, at which the group optical path difference between interfering beams is zero. The recorded spectral interferograms are in good agreement with the theoretical ones, which are modelled knowing dispersion in the interferometer and the bandpass of the spectrometer.