You will discover fundamental differences: In the isotropic material you will only observe refraction whereas in the uniaxial and biaxial material birefringence appears. In the case of the biaxial material you will additionally observe the effect of the (internal) conical refraction where the point-shaped laser beam will convert to a ring after propagating through the material (see photograph). For the isotropic and the uniaxial material you will determine the index of refraction by measuring of the beam displacement. For the biaxial material (= conical refraction) you will only compare the circle diameter with the theoretical expectations. Additionally, you will investigate the polarization state of the laser light after propagation through the particular materials.
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- WO4 - Refraction, Birefringence and Conical Refraction (pdf, 0.87 MB)
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