Michelson interferometer

English

Etymology

Invented by Albert Abraham Michelson.

Noun

Michelson interferometer (plural Michelson interferometers)

1. An optical interferometer that uses a beam splitter to split a light source into two arms, each of which is reflected back toward the beam splitter which then combines their amplitudes using the superposition principle. The resulting interference pattern is typically directed to a photoelectric detector or camera.