Extinction cross
An extinction cross photographed with a CCD camera using a green laser beam and a polarizer
The extinction cross is an optical phenomenon that is seen when trying to extinguish a laser beam or non-planar white light using crossed polarizers. Ideally, crossed (90° rotated) polarizers block all light, since light which is polarized along the polarization axis of the first polarizer is perpendicular to the polarization axis of the second. When the beam is not perfectly collimated, however, a characteristic fringing pattern is produced.
See also
Further reading
- Mineralogy notes 6 See "6.3.5. Review of Uniaxial Optical Properties"
- Nikon MicroscopyU See Figure 1a
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.