Measurements of nonreciprocity in materials with a sagnac interferometer
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- A modified Sagnac Interferometer has historically been used as an elegant technique for detecting non-reciprocal phenomena, such as rotation and magnetism. I will discuss how its function relies on the concept of reciprocity, and how it may be employed as a strategy for high-precision measurements testing a variety of broken symmetries. Previous designs of the interferometer have incorporated free-space components that are bulky and difficult to align. We have improved upon this technique by using all fiber-optic coupled components and demonstrate operation at a new wavelength, 820 nm, with which we can achieve better than 1 microradian resolution. Mounting the system on a piezo-electric scanner allows us to acquire diffraction limited images with 1.5 micrometer spatial resolution. This thesis discusses, in detail, the fundamental principles behind the interferometer, with emphasis on reciprocity, and the fine points of its construction. We report measurements of several magnetic materials. In addition, several observations of a nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr Effect have been noticed, and we report on these. Furthermore we discuss how chiral materials, or in general, materials which break mirror-symmetry can not give rise to a Kerr effect. Finally, we discuss extensions to the Sagnac Interferometry metrological technique and that allow the instrument to measure other optical effects which test for other broken symmetries.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Fried, Alexander David |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics. |
| Primary advisor | Kapitulnik, Aharon |
| Thesis advisor | Kapitulnik, Aharon |
| Thesis advisor | Beasley, Malcolm |
| Thesis advisor | Kivelson, Steven |
| Advisor | Beasley, Malcolm |
| Advisor | Kivelson, Steven |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Alexander David Fried. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2014 by Alexander David Fried
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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