The present invention concerns an interferometer comprising: an optical
body adapted in operation to mount a measurement area comprising a film
which is capable of acting as a two dimensional environment for surface
plasmons and an adjacent reference area; an optical beam generation means
for irradiating the reference and measurement areas with radiation
capable of generating surface plasmon resonance; optical means for
combining radiation reflected from the reference and measurement areas,
and pixelated detection means for generating data representing two
dimensional images of the combined radiation beams.