Optical anistropy

J. Stumpe, L. Muller, D. Kreisig, G. Hauck, H. D. Koswig, R. Ruhmann, and J. Rtibner, Photoreaction in mesogenic media, 5. Photoinduced optical anistropy of liquid-crystalline side-chain polymers with azodiromophores by linearly polarized light of low intensity, Makromol. 

J. Stumpe, L. Lasker, T. Fischer and T. Geue, Photoinduced optical anistropy in LB multilayers, liquid crystalline and amorphous polymers,. /. Inf. Rec. Mater. 21,449-455 (1994). 

M. Bordeau, E. Frairmet, and C. Clement, J. Organomet. Chem., 1980, 202, 123 Molecular optical anistropy of alkenyl-, amino-, and alkoxysilanes. 

Commonly known as the Kerr Effect, this is the best known electro-optic phenomenon. Although initially studied in glasses by John Kerr (J) in 1875, who considered the birefringence to be related to electrically induced strain in the material, it is now used widely to follow the alignment due to orientation and deformation of macro-particles in solution and suspension (2—4). It owes its origin to anistropy of the refractive indices associated with the major geometric axes of the molecules. 

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