World

Interferometry

Day

2025, April 9

with International Scientific Symposium in Ilmenau/ Germany

We celebrate the World Interferometer Day to commemorate the seminal birth of the interferometer in general and the Michelson interferometer in particular.

In the early days of April 1881, 140 years ago, Albert Abraham Michelson successfully made his measurements of the relative motion of the Earth with respect to the light ether using his now world-famous interferometer setup. Since then, the interferometer has truly triumphed in science and technology.

As simple as the principle of this interferometer was, as ingenious was its invention, which thus became practically synonymous with high-precision measurement technology. Today, the applications of interferometers range from nano and precision technologies to the exploration of space and the mysteries of gravitational waves. They embody, more than any other technology, the art of measuring extraordinarily minute quantities and effects. Pushing technology to its limits and challenging it to ever new heights - that is the credo of modern laser interferometer technology.

World Interferometer Day is intended to raise the visibility of a unique technology that, like no other, has been able to open up new perspectives of knowledge and continues to prove this today. It should also be seen as a call to strengthen scientific and economic cooperation, and to use its potential to promote sustainable development worldwide.

Our initiative is intended to provide a platform for the continued appreciation of precision metrology - and interferometry in particular. The theme day hereby proclaimed is intended to provide an opportunity for diverse sectors of society worldwide to develop and combine activities to express the importance of science and technology for the development and maintenance of our society.

All interested parties are invited to celebrate this day with demonstrations, experiments, lectures and other activities.

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Please also note the SPIE Photonics Europe Symposium from April 9 to 11, 2024 in Strasbourg, France, which offers special sessions on the topic of World Interferometry Day.

You can find the link here: OPADM III.