Single chromosomal spindle fibres in Nephrotoma suturalis (crane-fly) spermatocytes in metaphase and anaphase were irradiated with monochromatic ultraviolet light focussed to a 2 micrometer spot. In cells in both metaphase and anaphase either the birefringence of the irradiated spindle fibre was altered in the irradiated region, or there was no change, depending on the dose and wavelength of ul...

We have investigated the flow birefringence property and assembly process of desmin, a muscle specific intermediate protein. Solution of non-polar desmin filaments showed birefringence when aligned in the sheared flow. The amount of birefringence of desmin filaments was considerably lower when compared with that of F-actin solution. Assembly of desmin from soluble state was followed by the bire...

The birefringence of an optical fiber resulting from an asymmetry of the index profile is numerically evaluated using a finite element method with a full-vectorial formulation. Such asymmetric index profiles, assumed to vary exponentially across the fiber core, could be induced during the writing of fiber Bragg gratings with UV sideexposure techniques. The results reveal that the birefringence ...

The birefringence of a red blood cell (RBC) is quantitatively monitored as it becomes infected by a malarial parasite. Large changes occur in the cell's refractive index at different stages of malarial infection. The observed rotation of an optically trapped, malaria-infected RBC is not a simple function of shape distortion: the malarial parasite is found to itself exercise a profound influence...

We investigated the origin of birefringence in colloidal films of spherical silica particles. Although each particle is optically isotropic in shape, colloidal films formed by drop drying demonstrated birefringence. While periodic particle structures were observed in silica colloidal films, no regular pattern was found in blended films of silica and latex particles. However, since both films sh...

Using the elasto-optic effect we increase the frequency difference between the two orthogonally polarized modes, the so-called birefringence splitting, in standard single-mode oxideconfined GaAs-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The birefringence may play an important role in the realization of ultrafast polarization modulation for highspeed data transmission. For practica...

Birefringence measurements for in-plane propagation of light below the absorption edge in GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells ~MQW’s! are reported for different well/barrier widths. A remarkable drop in the low-frequency limit of the birefringence has been observed for MQW structures with small periods and ascribed to the presence of local fields. The temperature dependence of the birefringence is...

The unintentional birefringence induced by the irregular structure in photonic crystal fibers is analyzed numerically using the plane wave expansion method. The statistical correlations between the birefringence and the various irregularities are obtained. The birefringence is found to be largely dependent on the fiber design parameters as well as the degree of the irregularity. And the large p...

The local parameters of linear, circular, and elliptical birefringence of backscattered light along a single-mode fiber are analyzed, and the twist-bending-induced elliptical birefringence in an extremely low birefringent single-mode fiber is measured using the backscattering method. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations. For a 130-microm-diameter fibe...

We measured transient photoinduced birefringence (delta n) in various azobenzene dye films by pumping with a nanosecond pulse at 532 nm and probing at 633 nm. The switch-on times for the photoinduced birefringence range from nanoseconds to milliseconds and are systematically related with the lowest optical transition energies for those films. Moreover, our results suggest that the transient pho...