Birefringence Definition and 18 Threads

First of all, I apologize if I use incorrect terminology or I express myself poorly, I am trying my best. That said, I hope you guys are smart enough to understand me despite my shortcomings I know that calcite has birefringence, and I know that if you take calcite crystals and cut them and...

When light passes through Calcite it is split into two beams opposite polarizations, doubling the image, and this sounds very similar to the Stern-Gerlach experiment where atoms are split into two beams with opposite polarizations The difference is that with light the opposite polarizations are...

The problem relates to birefringence and crystal optics. What is the difference between O and E rays to S and P polarizations? Is O-ray just a different name to S-polarization and E-ray a different name to P-polarization? if not, what is the difference?-

Hey guys, is anyone here familiar with birefringence in uniaxial optical media? In such a medium, there are only two types of polarizations allowed for a wave to propagate. A wave with any other polarization will split into two waves with the allowed polarizations (ordinary + extraordinary wave...

Hi, I am having trouble wrapping my head around a simple (I think?) question about birefringent walkoff: If the crystal is oriented at some angle such that walkoff is nonzero between e and o beams (in a nonlinear conversion process, for example), it seems to me that reflecting the light...

Evidence for vacuum birefringence from the rst optical polarimetry measurement of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5−3754...

I am trying to calculate what thickness of LiNbO3 would displace a beam of light 9 microns. I seek to make something like a microscope slide that would displace light in the vertical. I am confused about something else if someone can clarify; for the crystal, I think the "z" axis is "optical...

I am trying to solve a problem my camera exhibits. It has a sensor with 6000x3376 pixels. HD video is 1920x1080. In order to reduce the amount of information to the processor the camera throws away 2 out of 3 pixel lines. this creates a problem with thin lines tike telephone lines and makes...

When looking through polarizing glasses at the rear window of a car (tempered glass), a black and white pattern appears. Supposedly, this is the same kind of birefringence that causes colored fringes in a plastic sheet, seen through a polarizer. It is clear that retardation and interference in...

The best known effect of birefringence is the lateral displacement of the extraordinary image. Why is this effect rarely quantified? I couldn't find a table of materials specifying the deviation angle δ of the extraordinary ray (say, for an angle of incidence equal to zero). Birefringence seems...

I finally understand the principle of being able to imagine light as having 2 perpendicular components of electric field, to use an analogy from an earlier thread, its just as a weight on a slope may be considered to have 2 componants. Anyway, for this example nx = ny = no and nz = ne. Light is...

Hi all, I'm new to the forums (in posting at least!). I recently graduated with a B.S. in Applied Physics, and have viewed topics here on and off throughout my educational experience. I definitely love this forum! I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to buy a new car, and recently...

Homework Statement Part (a): Explain how birefringence adds phase difference. Part(b): Explain how the concept of birefringence is used in a beam splitter. Part (c): What's the orientation and retardance of retarder-1 to make both beams have same intensity? Part (d): What's the...

1) Is birefringence different in plastics, tempered glass and calcite crystal? In plastics I see rainbow color bands (when looking through polaroid glasses), in tempered glass a colorless checkerboard pattern (again viewed through polaroid glasses), and in calcite double images. These...

I am trying to understand birefringence effect. I have read many different sources online, but what I do not understand is why refracted light rays come out polarized (from a calcite crystal for example). What actually polarize light? Can somebody help? Thank you a lot!

I am trying to understand all the possibilities that a linear birefringent material can provide. The resources I am finding on the internet seems to only claim that each component of the wave (the parallel and perpendicular components) will propagate at different speeds. Is this enough to say...

I'm not a physics whiz, so please be patient with me! I understand that when polarized light passes through an anisotropic sample, it bifurcates into the o-ray and the e-eay. The two rays emerge out of phase to each other and when they hit the polarizer, they recombine. Due to the fact that...

Hi everyone, I have some questions about birefringence. I have searched in vain on the Internet and in a few books (it's tough to find books on birefringence). Usually determining how rays propagate after birefringence is simple because the light is incident normally and the ne of the...