Hybrid Immersion-Polarization Method for Measuring Birefringence Applied to Spider Silks

Abstract

A technique for accurate measurement of the principle refractive indices and birefringence for silklike samples is presented. It is based on rotating the linear polarization of the illuminating light on a silk immersed in reference liquid to achieve index matching at the silk/liquid interface. The technique was used to measure the principal refractive indices of a P. eburnus radial silk at different strains. This in turn allows the calculation of strain-optic coefficients. The first measurement of the strain-optic coefficients of spider silk is presented. The technique is more generally applicable to strain-optic study of birefringent micro-optic samples.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 15, 2011
Accession Number
ADA557822

Entities

People

  • Deborah M. Kane
  • Douglas J Little

Organizations

  • Macquarie University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Bandpass Filters
  • Birefringence
  • Coefficients
  • Inverse Scattering
  • Linear Polarization
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Military Research
  • Optical Fibers
  • Optical Materials
  • Optical Properties
  • Optics
  • Orientation (Direction)
  • Polarization
  • Refractive Index
  • Uncertainty

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Engineering.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.