Birefringent Crystal Modeling

Focusing collimated light into an uniaxial crystal. Different regional Maxwell solvers are employed for different regions, e.g., lens, aperture, and air-crystal interface, in the system. Due to the birefringent effect, the focused linearly polarized light shows asymmetry inside the crystal. After propagating through the focal plane, the direction of the asymmetry alters. Image: IAP, F.Wyrowski

Crystals are of great help for people to discover the vectorial nature of light, due to their birefringent properties with respect to the different polarization of light. From the application point of view, they are made into various optical devices, e.g. polarizer and waveplate, that play an indispensable role in modern optical research. A rigorous regional solver that deals with crystal components with planar surfaces has been developed within the field tracing framework. That enables the simulation of both uniaxial and biaxial crystals, stress-induced birefringence (along one axis), and possible electro-/magneto-optics effects.