The present invention comprises: a
light source (2); a
light detector (4) that detects the intensity of the received light; an optical
system (6, 8, 10, 12) that branches an
optical path of light emitted from the
light source (2) into a first
optical path and a second
optical path, merges the first optical path and the second optical path, and guides interference light of the light of the first optical path and the light of the second optical path to the
photodetector; a
phase modulation unit (18, 20) that is disposed on the first optical path and / or the second optical path and that electrically modulates the
phase difference between the light of the first optical path and the light of the second optical path; a
control unit (22) configured so as to temporally change the intensity of the interference light detected by the photodetectors (4, 4 ') by temporally changing the drive
voltage of the
phase modulation units (18, 20) at a predetermined amplitude and periodicity, and a
control unit (22) configured so as to temporally change the intensity of the interference light detected by the photodetectors (4, 4'); a storage unit (24) that stores the intensity of the interference light detected by the photodetectors (4, 4 '); and a calculation unit (26) that performs calculation
processing using the intensity of the interference light stored in the storage unit (24). The
control unit (22) is configured so as to compare a
temporal change in the intensity of the interference light in a reference state in which no sample is present on the first optical path and a
temporal change in the intensity of the interference light in a measurement state in which a sample is present on the first optical path with the
phase modulation unit (18; the time change of the drive
voltage of the drive circuit (20, 20) is stored in the storage unit (24) in association with the time change of the drive
voltage. The calculation unit (26) is configured so as to calculate the time variation of the driving voltage and the time variation of the intensity of the interference light in the reference state stored in the storage unit (24), and to calculate the time variation of the driving voltage in the measurement state by using the relationship between the time variation of the intensity of the interference light in the reference state and the time variation of the driving voltage in the measurement state stored in the storage unit (24). The amount of
phase change of the interference light caused by the sample is determined, and the
refractive index of the sample is determined on the basis of the amount of
phase change.