In
physical optics, the Cotton–Mouton effect is the
birefringence in a liquid in the presence of a constant transverse
magnetic field. It is a similar but stronger effect than the
Voigt effect (in which the medium is a gas instead of a liquid). The electric analog is the
Kerr effect.
It was discovered in 1905 by
Aimé Cotton
Aim̩ Auguste Cotton (9 October 1869 Р16 April 1951) was a French physicist known for his studies of the interaction of light with chiral molecules. In the absorption bands of these molecules, he discovered large values of optical rotator ...
and
Henri Mouton
Henri Mouton September 1869, Cambrai (Nord) – 13 June 1935, Bezons (Val d'Oise)) was a French scientist.
He entered the École normale supérieure in 1889. He was a biologist at the Institut Pasteur, then maître de conférences at the Facultà ...
, working in collaboration and publishing in .
When a linearly polarized wave propagates perpendicularly to a magnetic field (e.g. in a magnetized plasma), it can become elliptized. Because a linearly polarized wave is some combination of in-phase X and O modes, and because X and O waves propagate with different phase velocities, there is elliptization of the emerging beam. As the waves propagate, the phase difference (δ) between E
X and E
O increases.
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See also
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Cotton effect
The Cotton effect in physics, is the characteristic change in optical rotatory dispersion and/or circular dichroism in the vicinity of an absorption band of a substance.
In a wavelength region where the light is absorbed, the absolute magnitude o ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton-Mouton effect
Magneto-optic effects
Liquids