Pockels effect

<p>In <a href="/facts/Optics/p0vq4S1T">optics</a>, the Pockels effect, or Pockels electro-optic effect,  is a directionally-dependent linear variation in the <a href="/facts/Refractive_index/yjkzvgeE">refractive index</a> of an <a href="/facts/Optical_medium/gm6LqshC">optical medium</a> that occurs in response to the application of an <a href="/facts/Electric_field/tt4MooBs">electric field</a>.  It is named after the German physicist <a href="/facts/Friedrich_Carl_Alwin_Pockels/HNo2LQ8s">Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels</a>, who studied the effect in 1893. The non-linear counterpart, the <a href="/facts/Kerr_effect/IoJN6wlW">Kerr effect</a>, causes changes in the refractive index at a rate proportional to the square of the applied electric field.  In optical media, the Pockels effect causes changes in <a href="/facts/Birefringence/J4lLuR3a">birefringence</a> that vary in proportion to the strength of the applied electric field.
</p><p>The Pockels effect occurs in crystals that lack <a href="/facts/Inversion_symmetry/UzswAm8N">inversion symmetry</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Monopotassium_phosphate/ajwnY11U">monopotassium phosphate</a> (KH2PO4, abbr. KDP), <a href="/facts/Potassium_dideuterium_phosphate/ndQsUQrJ">potassium dideuterium phosphate</a> (KD2PO4, abbr. KD*P or DKDP), <a href="/facts/Lithium_niobate/d98DlGny">lithium niobate</a> (LiNbO3), <a href="/facts/Beta-barium_borate/l4RP5H1S">beta-barium borate</a> (BBO), <a href="/facts/Barium_titanate/v0v8cEfC">barium titanate</a> (BTO) and in other non-centrosymmetric media such as electric-field poled polymers or glasses. The Pockels effect has been elucidated through extensive study of electro-optic properties in materials like KDP.
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Pockels effect open-in-new

Pockels effect