Measurement of Verdet Constant in Diamagnetic Glass Using Faraday Effect

Abstract

Many materials exhibit what is called circular dichroism when placed in an external magnetic field. An equivalent statement would be that the two circular polarizations have different refractive indices in the presence of the field. For linearly polarized light, the plane of polarization rotates as it
propagates through the material, a phenomenon that is called the Faraday effect. The angle of rotation is proportional to the product of magnetic field, path length through the sample and a constant known as the Verdet constant. The objectives of this experiment are to measure the Verdet constant for a sample of dense flint glass using Faraday effect and to compare its value to a theoretical calculated value. The experimental values for wavelength of 505 and 525 nm are V = 33.1 and 28.4 rad/T m, respectively. While the theoretical calculated values for wavelength of 505 and 525 nm are V = 33.6 and 30.4 rad/T m, respectively.