Julian Bertini
Faculty Sponsor: John Yukich
Many spectroscopy experiments in physics benefit from the use of tunable lasers, since they can be tweaked to reflect specific atomic resonances of interest. As a given laser is tuned, however, we need a way to measure the frequency at which it resides. Many expensive devices already exist that accomplish this job remarkably, such as high-resolution spectrometers or Fabry-Perot interferometers, to name a few. As such, the goal of this project is not to invent a new technique, but rather to test and verify the creation of wavemeter, an inexpensive wavelength measurement device that can be readily assembled from ubiquitous lab equipment. It uses a traveling Michelson Interferometer as the basis of its operation to measure an unknown laser’s wavelength with high accuracy and precision.