Crystal Optics


				*Chris R. Brown's physics and astronomy stuff* *Crystal Optics*



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		There will be more here soon, but for a start, check out the amazing view below. You are looking along the optic axis (look it up!) of potassium dihydrogen phosphate between crossed polarizers. KDP, as it is called, is a transparent colorless uniaxial crystal. It is water soluable, so is not found naturally.



		This isn't the greatest picture, but below you can see the birefringence of calcite. There is one pencil, but two images of the eraser end as seen through the crystal. The two images are oppositely polarized. One image obeys Snell's law (look it up!) but the other doesn't. Crazy!