birefringence
[bahy-ri-frin-juh ns]
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Origin of birefringence
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for birefringence
Historical Examples
The difference between the two indices is a measure of the strength of the double refraction or birefringence.
birefringence
- another name for double refraction
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
birefringence
(bī′rĭ-frĭn′jəns)- The resolution or splitting of a light wave into two unequally reflected waves by an optically anisotropic medium such as calcite or quartz.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
birefringence
[bī′rĭ-frĭn′jəns]
- The property or capacity of splitting a beam of light into two beams, each refracted at a different angle, and each polarized at a right angle to the other. Certain crystals such as calcite and quartz have this property.
- The difference in the index of refraction between two beams passing through a substance that has this property. See also refraction index of refraction.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.