Optical Interferometry: The Post-Michelson Era

Abstract

Michelson's contributions to optical interferometry, over the half century from 1880 to 1930, won him the Nobel Prize and dominated the field to such an extent that, at the end of this period, optical interferometry seemed to be an area in which there was little left to be done. In retrospect, it is now apparent that this pessimistic view was totally unjustified. Significant advances were, in fact, made over the next two decades, but these were merely a prelude to the explosion of activity that was triggered by the development of the laser and progress in related fields such as fibre optics and nonlinear optics. Some of these advances will be reviewed, and some future possibilities will be discussed.