Magnetostriction with the Michelson interferometer

Project Description

PrincipleWith the aid of two mirrors in a Michelson arrangement, light is brought to interference. Due to the magnetostrictive effect, one of the mirrors is shifted by variation in the magnetic field applied to a sample and the change in the interference pattern is observed.

Benefits

  • See that magnetic fields can change the geometry of objects
  • Use a Michelson interferometer to measure quantitatively this most subtle effect
  • Set up the instrument by yourself from separate components

Tasks

  1. Construction of a Michelson interferometer using separate optical components.
  2. Testing various ferromagnetic materials (iron and nickel) as well as a non-ferromagnetic material (copper), with regard to their magnetostrictive properties.

What you can learn about

  • Interference
  • Wavelength
  • Diffraction index
  • Speed of light
  • Phase
  • Virtual light source
  • Ferromagnetic material
  • Weiss molecular magnetic fields
  • Spin-orbit coupling

Data Sheet PDF

Project Details