Optics Communications 269 (2007) 8–13

www.elsevier.com/locate/optcom

Direct measurement of dispersion of the group refractive indices

of quartz crystal by white-light spectral interferometry
Petr Hlubina *, Dalibor Ciprian, Lenka Knyblová
Department of Physics, Technical University Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 33 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic

Received 26 April 2006; received in revised form 21 July 2006; accepted 23 July 2006

Abstract

We present a white-light spectral interferometric technique employing a low-resolution spectrometer for a direct measurement of the
dispersion of the ordinary and extraordinary group refractive indices of a quartz crystal over the wavelength range approximately from
480 to 860 nm. The technique utilizes a dispersive Michelson interferometer with the quartz crystal of known thickness to record a series
of spectral interferograms and to measure the equalization wavelength as a function of the displacement of the interferometer mirror
from the reference position, which corresponds to a balanced non-dispersive Michelson interferometer. We confirm that the measured
group dispersion agrees well with that described by the dispersion equation proposed by Ghosh. We also show that the measured mirror
displacement depends, in accordance with the theory, linearly on the theoretical group refractive index and that the slope of the corre-
sponding straight line gives precisely the thickness of the quartz crystal.
 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PACS: 42.25.Hz; 42.25.Lc; 42.81.Gs; 78.20.Fm

Keywords: White light; Spectral interferometry; Low-resolution spectrometer; Michelson interferometer; Group refractive index; Birefringence; Quartz

1. Introduction domain or in the spectral domain, respectively. The tempo-

The refractive indices and their dispersion, that is, the
wavelength dependence, are the fundamental parameters
and characteristics of both isotropic and anisotropic opti-
cal materials. White-light interferometry based on the use
of a white-light source in combination with a standard
Michelson or Mach–Zehnder interferometer, is considered
as one of the best tools to measure the refractive index dis-
persion for different optical materials. White-light interfer-
ometric methods enable high-accuracy measurements of
group dispersion as well as higher-order dispersion of var-
ious optical elements over a broad spectral range.
White-light interferometry usually utilizes either of two
methods, that is, a temporal method or a spectral method,
depending on whether interference is observed in the time
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +420 597 323 134; fax: +420 597 323 139.
E-mail address: petr.hlubina@vsb.cz (P. Hlubina).
ral method involves measurement of the time of flight of
optical pulses through a sample. A method for measuring
the group delay introduced by an optical material consists
in placing the sample in one arm of the interferometer and
evaluating the temporal shift of the peak of the cross-cor-
relation interferogram. As the central wavelength is varied,
the relative group delay of the different frequency compo-
nents is observed directly [1]. Alternatively, the spectral
phase over the full bandwidth of the white-light source
can be obtained in a single measurement by a Fourier
transform of the cross-correlation interferogram [2–5].
The dispersion characteristics of the sample under study
can be obtained by simply differentiating the measured
spectral phase.
The spectral method is based on the observation of spec-
trally resolved interference fringes (channeled spectrum)
[6–10] and involves measurement of the period of the spec-
tral fringes in the vicinity of a stationary-phase point [6]
that appears in the recorded spectral interferogram when

0030-4018/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2006.07.049
 P. Hlubina et al. / Optics Communications 269 (2007) 8–13
the group optical path difference (OPD) between two
beams in the interferometer is close to zero. The main lim-
itation of the method is reached for thick or strongly dis-
persive materials because under such conditions the
spectral interference fringes that are far from the station-
ary-phase point become difficult to resolve. Fortunately,
the measurement of the group refractive index dispersion
of a given material is still possible in the vicinity of the sta-
tionary-phase point if one moves it in successive steps to
different wavelengths [11,12] and repeats the measurement.
The wavelengths are also referred to as the equalization
wavelengths [12]. The modification of the technique with
a tandem configuration of a Michelson interferometer
and a birefringent optical element has been used in mea-
surement of the group birefringence dispersion of an opti-
cal fiber of known length [13] and of a calcite crystal of
known thickness [14].
The aim of this paper is to extend the use of a white-light
spectral interferometric technique presented in a previous
paper [12] for measuring directly the dispersion of the
ordinary and extraordinary group refractive indices of a
quartz crystal of known thickness. We present a white-light
spectral interferometric technique employing a low-resolu-
tion spectrometer for measurement of the dispersion of
the group refractive indices of a quartz crystal over the
wavelength range approximately from 480 to 860 nm. The
technique utilizes a dispersive Michelson interferometer
with the quartz crystal of known thickness to record a series
of spectral interferograms and to measure the equalization
wavelength as a function of the displacement of the interfer-
ometer mirror from the reference position corresponding to
a balanced non-dispersive Michelson interferometer. This
measurement gives the wavelength dependence of the group
refractive indices for the ordinary and extraordinary polar-
izations in the quartz crystal. We confirm that the group
refractive indices measured with a precision of 3 · 104
agree well with those obtained from the dispersion equation
Light source Optical fiber
HL 2000
Collimator
Optical table
Spectrometer
PC S2000
Read optical fiber
Fig. 1. Experimental setup with a Michelson interferometer and a low-resolution spectrometer to measure the group refractive indices for ordinary and
extraordinary polarizations in a uniaxial crystal.
9
proposed by Ghosh [15]. Furthermore, we determine pre-
cisely the thickness of the quartz crystal, which is given by
the slope of linear dependence of the measured mirror dis-
placement on the theoretical group refractive index.
2. Experimental method
First, let us consider a configuration of a non-dispersive
Michelson interferometer. The OPD DM between beams at
the output of the interferometer is given by:
DM ¼ 2ðL  lÞ; ð1Þ
where l and L are the optical path lengths of the beam in
the air in the first and in the second arm of the interferom-
eter, respectively. When a white-light source is used, a spec-
tral interferogram can be recorded at the output of the
interferometer with the period of spectral modulation
K(k) given by:
KðkÞ ¼ k2 =DM ; ð2Þ
where k is the wavelength and we consider DM P 0. The
smaller the OPD adjusted in the interferometer the larger
the period of spectral modulation, which is infinite for
the balanced interferometer with L = L0 = l.
Let us consider next that a sample of thickness t and
refractive index n(k) is inserted into the first arm of the
Michelson interferometer as is shown in Fig. 1. The OPD
DM(k) between beams of the dispersive interferometer is
given in this case by
DM ðkÞ ¼ 2ðL  lÞ  2t½nðkÞ  1: ð3Þ
The corresponding period of spectral modulation is given
by Eq. (2) in which the OPD DM is replaced by the group
OPD DgM ðkÞ given by
DgM ðkÞ ¼ 2ðL  lÞ  2t½N ðkÞ  1; ð4Þ
where N(k) is the group refractive index defined as
Mirror 1
Sample t Micropositioner
Beamsplitter
Polarizer Mirror 2
Objective
Micropositioners
10 P. Hlubina et al. / Optics Communications 269 (2007) 8–13

dnðkÞ 2
N ðkÞ ¼ nðkÞ  k : ð5Þ
dk
When the case of thick or strongly dispersive materials is 1.6

Spectral Intensity (A. U.)

considered, the spectral interference fringes have the largest
period in the vicinity of a stationary-phase point [6] for
which the group OPD is zero at one specific wavelength 1.2

k0, the equalization wavelength [12], satisfying the relation

DgM ðk0 Þ ¼ 2ðL  lÞ  2t½N ðk0 Þ  1 ¼ 0: ð6Þ 0.8

Eq. (6) gives for the mirror position L = L(k0) for which
the equalization wavelength k0 is resolved in the recorded 0.4
spectral interferogram the relation: ↑ ↑
λ λ
Lðk0 Þ ¼ l þ t½N ðk0 Þ  1: ð7Þ o e
0
If we introduce the mirror displacement DL(k0) = L(k0)  500 550 600 650 700 750 800

L0 as the displacement of the second mirror of the dispersive Wavelength (nm)

interferometer from the mirror position of the balanced
non-dispersive Michelson interferometer, we obtain the
simple relation
N ðk0 Þ ¼ 1 þ DLðk0 Þ=t;
enabling to measure directly the group refractive index
N(k0) as a function of the equalization wavelength k0 for
a sample of known thickness t.
We can estimate the minimum and maximum thicknesses
of the sample whose group dispersion can be measured by
the method. If the measurement is restricted to the wave-
length range from k0min to k0max, the minimum thickness
tmin is given by the minimum displacement change
DLmin ¼ ½DLðk0 min Þ  DLðk0 max Þmin with which the group
dispersion curve is measured
tmin ¼ DLmin =½N ðk0 min Þ  N ðk0 max Þ:
Similarly, the maximum thickness tmax is preferably given
by the maximum displacement DLmax which can be ad-
justed in the interferometer:
tmax ¼ DLmax =½N ðk0 min Þ  1:
Taking into account the material of known dispersion such
as fused silica [12] and the spectral range restricted to the
wavelengths k0min = 450 nm and k0max = 900 nm, we ob-
tain for DLmin ¼ 100 lm, which corresponds to 10 mea-
surements with a 10 lm step, the minimum thickness
tmin  3 mm. Similarly we obtain for DLmax = 25 mm,
which corresponds to a standard travel of a translation
stage, the maximum thickness tmax  50 mm.
This method can be extended for measuring the disper-
sion of the group refractive indices for both the ordinary
and extraordinary polarizations [15] in birefringent uniax-
ial crystals such as quartz and calcite. This fact is demon-
strated in Fig. 2 that shows the theoretical spectral
interferogram [16] for a quartz crystal of the thickness
t = 2 cm and the mirror displacement DL = 11 400 lm.
The dispersion relation for refractive indices of the ordin-
ary and extraordinary polarizations, no(k) and ne(k), in
the quartz crystal is represented in the Sellmeier-like form
proposed by Ghosh [15]:
Fig. 2. Theoretical spectral interferogram for the thickness t = 20 000 lm
of the quartz crystal and the mirror displacement DL = 11 400 lm
demonstrating discrimination between the equalization wavelengths ko
and ke.
ð8Þ
Bo;e k2 Do;e k2
n2o;e ðkÞ ¼ Ao;e þ þ ; ð11Þ
k2  C o;e k2  F o;e
where k is wavelength in micrometers and the dispersion
coefficients at room temperature are as follows: Ao =
1.28604141, Bo = 1.07044083, Co = 1.00585997 · 102,
Do = 1.10202242 and Fo = 100; Ae = 1.28851804, Be =
1.09509924, Ce = 1.02101864 · 102, De = 1.15662475 and
Fe = 100. The corresponding group refractive indices (5)
are represented as
ð9Þ N o;e ðkÞ ¼ no;e ðkÞ
( )
k2 Bo;e C o;e Do;e F o;e
þ þ : ð12Þ
no;e ðkÞ ðk2  C o;e Þ2 ðk2  F o;e Þ2
Fig. 2 demonstrates easy discrimination between the equal-
ð10Þ
ization wavelengths ko and ke satisfying Eq. (8). Generally
speaking, displacement DLo(ko) or DLe(ke) measured as a
function of the equalization wavelength ke or ke gives di-
rectly the dispersion of the group refractive index No(ko)
or Ne(ke) for a birefringent crystal of known thickness.
Similarly, if the dispersion of a birefringent crystal is
known, Eq. (8) says that the thickness of the birefringent
crystal can be determined precisely from the slope of linear
dependence of the measured mirror displacement DLo(ko,)
or DLe(ke) on the known group refractive index No(ko) or
Ne(ke).
3. Experimental setup
The experimental setup used in the application of white-
light spectral interferometry to measure the dispersion of
the group refractive indices for the ordinary and extraordi-
nary polarizations in a quartz crystal is shown in Fig. 1. It
consists of a white-light source: 7 W halogen lamp HL 2000
with launching optics, an optical fiber, a collimating lens, a
 P. Hlubina et al. / Optics Communications 269 (2007) 8–13
bulk-optic Michelson interferometer, a micropositioner
connected to mirror 2 of the interferometer, a polarizer, a
microscope objective, micropositioners, a fiber-optic spec-
trometer S2000 (Ocean Optics, Inc.), an A/D converter
and a personal computer. The quartz plate under test con-
sists of two polished surfaces, parallel to the optical axis of
the crystal with a precision of 15 arcmin. The plate is
placed into the first arm of the interferometer in such a
way that the collimated beam is incident on the surfaces
perpendicularly and the orientation of the optical axis is
shown in Fig. 1. The thickness of the plate is t =
(20 950 ± 10) lm.
The fiber-optic spectrometer S2000 of an asymmetric
crossed Czerny-Turner design with the input and output
focal lengths of 42 and 68 mm, respectively, has spectral
operation range from 350 to 1000 nm and includes a dif-
fraction grating with 600 lines per millimeter, a 2048-ele-
ment linear CCD-array detector with a Schott glass long-
pass filter, a collection lens and a read optical fiber. The
wavelength of the spectrometer is calibrated so that a
third-order polynomial relation between pixel number
and wavelength is used. The spectrometer resolution is in
our case given by the effective width of the light beam from
a core of the read optical fiber: we used the read optical
fiber of a 50 lm core diameter to which a Gaussian
response function corresponds. Spectrometer sensitivity is
at given light conditions affected by the spectrometer inte-
gration time: it can easily be varied under software control.
4. Experimental results and discussion
First, we determined the position L0 of mirror 2 for
which the non-dispersive Michelson interferometer is bal-
anced. We recorded one interferogram with high-visibility
interference fringes, determined the period K(k) for a given
wavelength k and used Eq. (2) to evaluate the correspond-
ing OPD DM. Half of this OPD is equal to the displacement
DL of mirror 2 from the position L0, which was determined
in this way with a precision better then 1 lm. Then we
inserted a quartz crystal, parameters of which are presented
above, in the first arm of the interferometer (see Fig. 1) and
displaced mirror 2 to such a position to resolve spectral
interference fringes in accordance with theory (see
Fig. 2). Fig. 3 shows an example of the spectral interfero-
gram recorded for the displacement DL = 1 1908 lm. In
this spectral interferogram are resolved two types of inter-
ference fringes. First type of interference fringes is located
in a range of shorter wavelengths and corresponds to the
ordinary polarization and the second type of the interfer-
ence fringes is located in a range of longer wavelengths
and corresponds to the extraordinary polarization. Dis-
crimination between both types of interference fringes
can be easily achieved by means of a polarizer. For the
polarizer oriented perpendicularly to the optical axis, the
ordinary polarization is transmitted and for the polarizer
oriented parallel to the optical axis, the extraordinary
polarization is transmitted. Fig. 3 also clearly demonstrates
11
600
Spectral Intensity (A. U.)
400
200
↑ ↑
λ λ
o e
0
450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900
Wavelength (nm)
Fig. 3. Example of the spectral interferogram recorded for the mirror
displacement DL = 11 908 lm with the equalization wavelengths
ko = 585.32 nm and ke = 703.56 nm.
the effect of the limiting resolving power of the spectrome-
ter on the visibility of the spectral interference fringes iden-
tified only over a narrow spectral range in the vicinities of
the equalization wavelengths ko = 585.32 nm and ke =
703.56 nm. The equalization wavelengths are determined
by autoconvolution method [17] with an error of 0.32 nm
corresponding to the wavelength difference for adjacent
pixels.
We measured in this way the dependence of the adjusted
displacement of mirror 2 on the equalization wavelengths
corresponding to the ordinary or extraordinary polariza-
tions. We displaced mirror 2 manually by using the micro-
positioner with a constant step of 10 lm and performed
recording of the corresponding spectral interferograms.
The recorded spectral interferograms have revealed that
the equalization wavelengths ko for the ordinary polariza-
tion can be resolved in the spectral range from 483 to
851 nm and that the corresponding displacement DLo var-
ies from 12238 to 11578 lm. Similarly, it can be seen that
the equalization wavelengths ke for the extraordinary
polarization can be resolved in the spectral range from
489 to 860 nm and that the corresponding displacement
DLe varies from 12 428 to 11 768 lm. Fig. 4 shows the dis-
placement DLo as a function of the equalization wave-
length ko and the displacement DLe as a function of the
equalization wavelength ke. It is clearly seen that the larger
the adjusted displacement the shorter the equalization
wavelength.
Knowledge of the sample thickness t and the measured
dependences of the displacement DLo on the equalization
wavelength ko and the displacement DLe on the equaliza-
tion wavelength ke enable us to evaluate directly the group
refractive indices No(ko) and Ne(ke) of the quartz crystal as
a function of the equalization wavelengths ko and ke. These
functions are represented in Fig. 5 by the circles and they
are shown together with the theoretical functions given
12 P. Hlubina et al. / Optics Communications 269 (2007) 8–13

4
x 10 ment precisions can be achieved using a quartz crystal,
1.25
the thickness of which is known with higher precision
and/or is larger.
1.23 There are also possibilities to compare the known quartz
Mirror Displacement (μm)

crystal thickness with that resulting from the comparison

of the measured group refractive index dispersions with
1.21 theory. First, the thicknesses to,e of the quartz crystal can
ΔLe
be obtained by using a least-squares procedure. The theo-
retical wavelength dependences of the group refractive
1.19 indices N to;e ðko;e Þ, given by Eq. (12), are compared with
the wavelength dependences for the group refractive indi-
ces N eo;e ðko;e Þ evaluated from Eq. (8) by using the measured
1.17 ΔLo
displacements DLo,e and such a choice of the quartz crystal
thicknesses to,e so that the standard deviations
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1.15 Pm e t 2
450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 i¼1 ½N o;e ðko;ei Þ  N o;e ðko;ei Þ
Wavelength (nm) SDo;e ¼ ð14Þ
m1
Fig. 4. The measured mirror displacement as a function of the wavelength are minimal. Parameter m is the number of the equalization
for both polarizations and the thickness t = (20 950 ± 10) lm of the quartz
crystal.
wavelengths ko,ei resolved in the measured spectral range (in
our case 67 values). By using this procedure we obtained the
quartz crystal thicknesses to = te = 20949.5 lm correspond-
by the dispersion relation (12). We can estimate a precision ing to the minimal values of the standard deviations
of the group refractive index measurements. If the displace- SDo = 3.8 · 105 and SDe = 3.6 · 105. Second, we can uti-
ments DLo,e adjusted in the interferometer are known with lize Eq. (8), from which it results that the displacements
precisions of d(DLo,e) and the thickness of the birefringent DLo,e measured as a function of the equalization wave-
crystal is known with a precision of d(t), the group refrac- lengths ko,e are linearly dependent on the group refractive
tive indices No,e are obtained with precisions given by the indices No,e(ko,e) with slopes giving the crystal thicknesses
following formula: to,e. This fact is illustrated first in Fig. 6 for the group refrac-
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2 tive index No(ko) given by Eq. (12) when the quartz crystal
dðDLo;e Þ dðtÞ thickness to of 20949.5 lm with a standard deviation of
dðN o;e Þ ¼ þ DLo;e 2 : ð13Þ
t t 0.2 lm is obtained. Similarly, Fig. 7 shows the linear depen-
In our case, the precisions d(DLo,e) are 1 lm and the preci- dence for the group refractive index Ne(ke) given by Eq. (12)
sion d(t) is 10 lm so that the precisions d(No,e) in obtaining when the quartz crystal thickness te of 20949.5 lm with a
the group refractive indices are 3 · 104. Higher measure- standard deviation of 0.2 lm is obtained.

1.6 4
x 10
1.25

1.59
Group Refractive Index

1.23
Mirror Displacement (μm)

1.58
1.21
Ne

1.57
1.19

1.56 No
1.17 ΔL
o

1.55
450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 1.15
Wavelength (nm) 1.55 1.56 1.57 1.58 1.59 1.6
Group Refractive Index
Fig. 5. The measured group refractive index as a function of the
wavelength (circles) for both polarizations and the thickness Fig. 6. The measured mirror displacement as a function of the theoretical
t = (20 950 ± 10) lm of the quartz crystal. Solid lines correspond to group refractive index for the ordinary polarization in the quartz crystal
theory. (circles). Solid line is a linear fit.

4
x 10
1.25
1.23
Mirror Displacement (μm)
1.21
1.19
1.17
1.15
1.55 1.56 1.57
Group Refractive Index
Fig. 7. The measured mirror displacement as a function of the theoretical
group refractive index for the extraordinary polarization in the quartz
crystal (circles). Solid line is a linear fit.
5. Conclusions
We used a white-light spectral interferometric technique
employing a low-resolution spectrometer to measure the
dispersion of the group refractive indices of a quartz crystal
over a wide spectral range (480–860 nm). From a series of
the spectral interferograms the equalization wavelengths as
a function of the mirror displacement in the dispersive
Michelson interferometer, and thus the wavelength depen-
dences of the ordinary and extraordinary group refractive
indices of the quartz crystal of known thickness were
obtained. We confirmed that the measured dispersions
agree well with those resulting from the dispersion equa-
tion proposed by Ghosh [15]. Furthermore, we determined
precisely the thickness of the quartz crystal from the slope
of linear dependence of the measured mirror displacement
P. Hlubina et al. / Optics Communications 269 (2007) 8–13 13
on the group refractive index given by the dispersion
equation.
The results obtained serve as an illustration of the feasi-
bility of a simple and cost-effective measurement technique
based on the resolving spectral interferograms by using a
low-resolution spectrometer and measuring the equaliza-
tion wavelengths. It allows to determine the dispersion of
ΔLe
the ordinary and extraordinary group refractive indices
of a uniaxial crystal of known thickness. Moreover, it
allows to measure precisely the thickness of a uniaxial bire-
fringent crystal, if its group dispersions are known.
Acknowledgements
This research was partially supported by the Grant
1.58 1.59 1.6 Agency of the Czech Republic (Projects 102/06/0284,
202/06/0531), by the Grant MSM6198910016, and by an
internal Grant of TU Ostrava (IGS HGF VŠB-TUO).
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