Study on the Influences of Splitting Ratio on Fringe Observability of Michelson Interferometer

The relationship between the splitting ratio and contrast of light intensity has been obtained by using the wave optics theory.The correlation between the fringe observability of Michelson interferometer and splitting ratio has been investigated under the eye light-intensity-contrast threshold limit.The theoretical results show that interference fringe cannot be distinguished by eyes if the splitting ratio is smaller than 0.0059.Not only can these results provide the guidelines in analyzing the fringe observability of Michelson interferometer in the teaching process of university physical experiment,but also they may be useful in designing Michelson interferometer with good fringe observability.