Questions tagged [birefringence]
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Torque on Quarter-Wave Plate
When circularly polarized light is passed through a quarter-wave plate, the plate experiences a torque. I understand this is true because angular momentum must be conserved, but I don't understand ...
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What sort of polarizer is this?
I wanted to try to experiment with polarizers, trying the 3 polarizers 45 degrees from each other, and similar experiments. I ordered 10 sheets of the cheapest polarizing foil I could find on ...
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What does the refractive index for e.g. alpha mean?
When I look for some materials like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barium_sulfate and want to extract the refractive index then there is written: (nD)=1.636 (alpha). And sometimes also for beta and ...
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Birefringent properties in Mylar films
Does Mylar film has birefringence properties? I am unsure about this and would like to know the reason behind its properties.
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Why are birefringence materials so rare?
By symmetry, most crystals will show birefringence. But the effect is very minute. So the question is actually, why is the birefrigence effect in most low-symmetry materials so small?
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Birefringent filter, optical path length difference?
In 'The Light Fantastic' by Kenyon, I.R. (p424), it is said that for a birefringent material inclined at Brewster's angle and who's optical axis lies in the plane of the plate, we have an optical path ...
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What happens if polarized light passes through calcite or some other birefringent material?
every explanation of birefringence I find talks about unpolarized light entering Calcite, but what if I use a polarized light? Will that mean that as I rotate the crystal the light will disappear then ...
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Application of Snell's law for an extraordinary wave?
I have read [1] that when the light enters a birefringent material with optical axis perpendicular to the plane of incidence that the angle of refraction of the extraordinary wave can be found by ...
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optical homogeneity of organic thin films
Prior to further analysis (like variable angle ellipsometric spectroscopy) I check thin films of organic materials vacuum deposited on glass substrates for their optical homogeneity under lineraly ...
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Why don't extraordinary rays follow Snell's law?
I understand that ordinary ray (O-ray) and extra-ordinary ray (e-ray) have different refractive indices.
This should mean O-ray and e-ray move with different velocities in a substance and they should ...
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Significance of colours in photoelasticity
I already checked similar question at Physics SE, but none gives me a clear answer, also it is a bit difficult for me to understand it from wikipedia as I couldn't find relating material to my ...
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What causes polarised materials to change colour under stress?
Our physics teacher showed the class a really interesting demonstration. He used two polarised filters in opposite orientations, then he took some antistatic tape and stretched it under the two plates....