Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Magneto-Optic Rotation in Birefringent Media—Application of the Poincaré Sphere

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

It is pointed out that the concept of the Poincaré sphere appreciably simplifies the mathematical treatment of phenomena accompanying the passage of polarized light through a medium which exhibits birefringence, optical activity or both simultaneously. This is exemplified by using the Poincaré sphere to evolve techniques which could be used for determining the true Faraday rotation in the presence of birefringence. When birefringence is present, measurements made with the half-shade at the polarizer and analyzer ends are not equivalent. In either arrangement, the errors introduced as a result of birefringence are largely reduced by taking the mean of two measurements for opposite directions of the field. Formulae are also derived by which the magnitudes of the error can be calculated for the particular experimental set up, knowing the value of the birefringence. In certain cases, even this need not be known, and the true rotation can be determined purely from measurements of the apparent rotations for two different azimuths of the incident plane of polarization.

© 1952 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Poincaré sphere analysis of liquid crystal optics

J. E. Bigelow and R. A. Kashnow
Appl. Opt. 16(8) 2090-2096 (1977)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (6)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Tables (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article tables are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Equations (28)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved