Measurement of Young’s Modulus Using a Michelson Interferometer

This analysis measures Young’s modulus using a Michelson interferometer. Michelson interferometers have played a decisive role in the history of science. The Michelson(–Morley) interferometer was used in a groundbreaking experiment that altered the beliefs of physicists who believed that light propagated through a substance called aether. Recently, it was used to detect gravitational waves at LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory).¹ Even in this journal, we can easily find many papers where the Michelson interferometer is used in various fields requiring precise measurement. Representatively, Alanís et al.² were able to measure static friction force, and Scholl and Liby³ measured the thermal expansion coefficient of copper. When the magnitude of the force acting on an object is changed or the temperature of the object is changed, the resulting deformation can be measured in real time through the change of the interference fringe.