Bayesian estimation of weak material dispersion: Theory and experiment

Optics Express
By: , and 

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Abstract

This work considers the estimation of dispersion in materials via an interferometric technique. At its core, the problem involves extracting the quadratic variation in phase over a range of wavelengths based on measured optical intensity. The estimation problem becomes extremely difficult for weakly dispersive materials where the quadratic nonlinearity is very small relative to the uncertainty inherent in experiment. This work provides a means of estimating dispersion in the face of such uncertainty. Specifically, we use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo implementation of Bayesian analysis to provide both the dispersion estimate and the associated confidence interval. The interplay between various system parameters and the size of the resulting confidence interval is discussed. The approach is then applied to several different experimental samples.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Bayesian estimation of weak material dispersion: Theory and experiment
Series title Optics Express
DOI 10.1364/OE.18.002076
Volume 18
Issue 3
Year Published 2010
Language English
Publisher Optical Society of America
Contributing office(s) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Description 14 p.
First page 2076
Last page 2089
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