Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements
written by
Richard W. Peterson, Connor D. Fredrick, and Keith R. Stein
The Faraday effect has ongoing applications including optical isolators and measuring dynamic magnetic fields in lab or space-based plasmas. A direct interferometric study of the circular birefringence underlying the Faraday effect provides a powerful platform for creative work in the undergraduate optics laboratory and makes clear the underlying physics. This workshop introduces a heterodyne interferometer for determining phase shifts between left- and right- handed circular polarizations as they pass through a substance in the direction of the magnetic field. Phase shifts due to magnetic fields within a commercially available 1.3 cm long terbium gallium garnet (TGG) crystal (after 3 passes of the 633 nm laser beam) can be plotted as a function of time – corresponding to B(t) down to the mT range. In the case of an broader advanced lab project format involving several weeks of time, the experiment may also provide a venue for introducing the use of heterodyne interferometers in measuring rapidly changing optical path length changes on the nanometer scale.
<a href="https://advlabs.aapt.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=14314">Peterson, R, C. Fredrick, and K. Stein. Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements. 2014.</a>
R. Peterson, C. Fredrick, and K. Stein, Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements (2014), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14314&DocID=4674>.
Peterson, R., Fredrick, C., & Stein, K. (2014). Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements. Retrieved December 8, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14314&DocID=4674
Peterson, R, C. Fredrick, and K. Stein. Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements. 2014. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14314&DocID=4674 (accessed 8 December 2024).
Peterson, Richard, Connor D. Fredrick, and Keith R. Stein. Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements. 2014. 8 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14314&DocID=4674>.
@misc{
Author = "Richard Peterson and Connor D. Fredrick and Keith R. Stein",
Title = {Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements},
Volume = {2024},
Number = {8 December 2024},
Year = {2014}
}
%A Richard Peterson %A Connor D. Fredrick %A Keith R. Stein %T Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements %D 2014 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14314&DocID=4674 %O application/pdf
%0 Electronic Source %A Peterson, Richard %A Fredrick, Connor D. %A Stein, Keith R. %D 2014 %T Interferometric Faraday effect magnetic field measurements %V 2024 %N 8 December 2024 %9 application/pdf %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14314&DocID=4674
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