A Refractometer for tracking the changes in the refractive index of air near 780 nm

A new system, consisting of a double channel Fabry Perot etalon and laser diodes emitting around 780 nm is described and proposed to be used for air refractive index measurements. The principle of this refractometer is based on frequency measurements between optical laser sources. It permits quasi-instantaneous measurement with a resolution better than 10 9 − and uncertainty in the 10 8 − range. Some preliminary results on the stability of this system and the measurements of the refractive index of air with this apparatus are presented. The first measurements of the index of air at 780 nm are, within an experimental uncertainty of the order of 2 10 8 × − , in agreement with the predicted values by the so-called revised Edlén equations. This result is to the best of our knowledge the first to extend to the near infra-red the validity of the revised Edlén equation derived for the wavelength range 350650 nm.