Interferometric technique for measurement of nonreciprocal optical effects in a sample

US5235404A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (A/K/A Stanford University) · US

Inventors

• Martin M. Fejer · Menlo Park, US
• Aharon Kapitulnik · Palo Alto, US
• Kenneth A. Fesler · Sunnyvale, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 27, 1991
• Grant date: Aug 10, 1993
• Expiry date: Jun 27, 2011

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N2021/218
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A method and apparatus for measuring nonreciprocal optical effects contemplates directing two circularly polarized optical beams having a known phase relation to each other at a sample, and detecting the difference in phase between the two beams after they have encountered the sample. In a transmission measurement the two circularly polarized beams have the same handedness, but pass through the sample in opposite directions. In a reflection measurement, the two circularly polarized beams have opposite handedness, but encounter the sample in the same direction. In a particular embodiment of the invention a linearly polarized beam is introduced into a Sagnac interferometer and split into two linearly polarized beams which are ultimately recombined.