Freq #95727
Meanings
-
1
noun
an instrument that superimposes two or more waves and analyzes their interference pattern to make precise measurements of distance, wavelength, refractive index, or related quantities
The Michelson interferometer split a laser beam along two paths and then recombined the light.
Thesaurus
Word family
Derived forms
interferometricinterferometry
Appears in
Etymology
Formed in the late nineteenth century from interfere + connective -o- + -meter. Meter in instrument names ultimately comes from Greek metron ("measure"); the device measures by producing and analyzing wave interference.