Abstract
Optical activity was found in 1811 by Arago. However, optical activity of solids is extremely small and overwhelmed by existing birefringence, so it could not be measured until the high accuracy universal polarimeter (HAUP) was developed by us in 1983. The HAUP method enables us to measure optical activity and birefringence of any solids even belonging to monoclinic and triclinic systems. The principles of the HAUP and the more generalized one are given. The applications of the HAUP method to various kind of solids, i.e., the elucidation of the origin of the incommensurate state of ferroelectrics, optical activities of monoclinic crystals, huge optical activity of high polymer sheet, and the first measurement of a protein, lysozyme, crystal are described. These applications illustrate that axial tensorial consideration provides otherwise inaccessible insight of previously unsolved problems. Therefore we stress the necessity of developing a new research field defined as 'chiral physics', where axial tensors play essential roles.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 25-39 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 4097 |
| Publication status | Published - 2000 Jan 1 |
| Event | Complex Mediums - San Diego, CA, USA Duration: 2000 Jul 30 → 2000 Aug 1 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering