Modified prism methods for measuring the refractive index of solid and liquid substances

Abstract

Methods for measuring the refractive index of optically transparent dielectric materials are considered. Modified methods based on the methods of minimum deviation and constant deviation are proposed and allow determining the refractive index of triangular prisms with unknown apex angles. In the proposed methods, the angles of light deviation on three faces of the prism are measured, and the refractive index of the material and the prism angles are determined from the solution of a system of equations. To implement the proposed methods, a goniometric system is used. That system was designed to measure angles between the flat surfaces of objects in manual and automated modes. Reference prism samples made of N-SF 1 optical glass, and a hollow prism filled with distilled water are studied. The proposed methods are compared and the measurement error is estimated. It is shown that the modified methods can be used for high-precision measurements of the refractive index in cases where the angles of the prism are unknown, or their measurement is associated with technical difficulties.