Is it necessary to have two waves of equal intensity to study interference pattern? Will there be an effect on clarity if the waves have unequal intensity?

Question

Philoid · Accepted Answer

For a clear interference pattern, we need to have a monochromatic source of light. With two different wavelengths, we will get an interference pattern with overlapping. This means that the dark fringes wouldn’t be totally dark and will have a faint glow due to incomplete destructive interference and similarly the brightness of the bright fringes will be affected.