Apparatus for High-Resolution Birefringence Measurement in Liquid Crystals

Abstract
A rotating-analyzer technique for measuring the optical birefringence in liquid crystals is described. This apparatus is continuously readable and has excellent sensitivity. For a sample 50 μm thick, the apparatus has a resolution in the change of birefringence of 4 × 10−6, corresponding to a temperature change of 1 mK in the sample tested.