Measurement of ultra-small displacements

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Rochester. College of Engineering and Applied Science. Institute of Optics. Department of Physics and Astronomy. This thesis was digitized by the Institute of Optics in 2014 and was determined to have lapsed into the public domain. If you are the author and have questions about the digitization of your work, please contact Kari Brick, Graduate Program Coordinator for the Institute of Optics, at kbrick@ur.rochester.edu. Other contact information for the Institute is available at http://www.optics.rochester.eduOf the many types of displacement detectors, the interferometer is one of the most promising for use in a room temperature gravitational radiation detection experiment. The first order design for the construction of a multipass interferometer is presented. The theory of an optical delay line for use in an interferometer is worked out, and presented with the theory of interferometric displacement detection. The construction and operation of the instrument is then presented, along with results generated by the instrument. It is shown that this instrument is capable of subangstrom sensitivity in the near future. Recommendations for future work are presented