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← ScienceWhich consequence results when tolerances cause microscopic surface height variations in an interferometer?
A)Spurious harmonics dominate the signal
B)Signal fringes distort and blur✓
C)Overall phase shift reaches zero
D)Effective beam expands indefinitely
💡 Explanation
Signal fringes distort and blur because microscopic surface height variations result in variations of effective pathlength in different regions—in other words, *destructive interference*; therefore, fringes aren't sharp lines, rather than distinct phases because signal noise smears the contrast.
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