Abstract
THE measurement of optical anisotropy is more difficult in photoelastic analysis than in other fields because of the variation in the birefringence from point to point. In addition, in three dimensional “frozen” systems the relative retardation is at most a few wavelengths, frequently less than one, and a discrimination of 0.01 wavelength can produce an accuracy of solution of only 5–10 per cent. The method at present in use is to recognize conditions of minimum intensity of transmitted light under various orientations of optical filters of various kinds1. An alternative method using rotating filters would seem to be feasible, and might lead to automatic recording of all the optical information needed to evaluate the stresses in an elastic system.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tardy, H. L., Rev. d'Optique, 8, 59 (1929).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SNELL, C. Towards Automatic Measurement of Birefringence. Nature 214, 78–79 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/214078a0
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/214078a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.