Measurement of the metre in wavelengths (Michelson and Benoît)
Medida del metro en longitudes de onda (Michelson y Benoît)
- Date
- 1892-1893 · confidence high
- Place
- Sèvres, Île-de-France, France
- Credited to
- Albert A. Michelson and Jean-René Benoît
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What was discovered
With an interferometer, Michelson and Benoît measured the prototype metre in wavelengths of the red line of cadmium and found 1,553,164.13. They proved that a light wavelength can serve as a natural, reproducible length standard.
The work was carried out at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (Pavillon de Breteuil). Michelson received the 1907 Nobel Prize largely for this contribution to metrology.
What it led to
- the idea of defining the metre with a wavelength (krypton-86, 1960)
- interferometric metrology in industry
- optical traceability of lengths