Improving the measurement accuracy of refractive index of GaAs and Sapphire Crystal by laser feedback interferometry

GaAs and Sapphire Crystal has been widely used in infrared region, optoelectronics field and military equipment, so the measurement of refractive index of two materials is of great significance to optical design, metrological inspection and industrial application. To improve the measurement accuracy of refractive index of two materials, microchip laser feedback interferometer technology was used to simultaneously measure refractive index and thickness. The system combined heterodyne modulation and quasi-common path to compensate for airflow and vibration, so it has the characteristics of high sensitivity, high precision and high stability, especially the simultaneous measurement and only the material needs to be processed into flake rather than prism shape. The experimental results demonstrate that the measurement accuracy of refractive index of GaAs and Sapphire Crystal (under ordinary light) has been enhanced to 10⁻³ and 10⁻⁴ respectively and thickness is 10⁻⁴ mm.