Use of Michelson and Fabry-Perot interferometry for independent determination of the refractive index and physical thickness of wafers

We present a method to independently measure the refractive index and the thickness of materials having flat and parallel sides by using a combination of Michelson and Fabry-Perot interferometry techniques. The method has been used to determine refractive-index values in the infrared with uncertainties in the third decimal place and thicknesses accurate to within +- 5 (mu)m for materials at room and cryogenic temperatures.