DIFFERENTIAL POLARIZATION INTERFEROMETER

An interferometer includes a tunable laser source (1) of coherent radiation generating an input beam; a first polarizer (2) configured to transmit a polarized beam with adjustable intensities of orthogonally polarized components; a broadband non-polarizing beam splitter (3) forming two optically connected arms (I; II), first one with a transmitted beam, and sequentially comprising a birefringent element (4) configured to split the polarized input beam into two separate, parallel, orthogonally polarized reference beam and object beam and mounted on the base (5) with fine rotation, the birefringent element acts as both the splitter and the combiner in an interferometer; and a sample (6) with means of its shifting and inclining; and a chopper wheel (10) with a system of holes that opens sequentially for some time object and reference beams separately, then simultaneously, providing interference of said beams; and a broadband plane mirror (11) reflecting incident object and reference beams in the opposite direction and providing double passing of the beams through the sample and the birefringent element which converts two said beams into orthogonally polarized components of a single output beam falling on a non-polarizing beam splitter; this beam, been reflected, forms the second arm (II) of the interferometer, where there are sequentially arranged a controllable phase retarder (12), configured to introduce phase shift only into one polarization component of a said beam; and the second polarizer (13) that equalizes and mixes the polarization components of the input said beam and transforms input said beam into a beam, which is the result of interference of polarization components of the input beam; and a photodetector (14) configured to receive an input beam and transform an intensity of the beam into output electric signal (27), which can be amplified and analyzed by various electronic devices.