Huygens principle of double refraction
Optical principle / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Huygens principle of double refraction, named after Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens, explains the phenomenon of double refraction observed in uniaxial anisotropic material such as calcite. When unpolarized light propagates in such materials (along a direction different from the optical axis), it splits into two different rays, known as ordinary and extraordinary rays.[1] The principle states that every point on the wavefront of birefringent material produces two types of wavefronts or wavelets: spherical wavefronts and ellipsoidal wavefronts. These secondary wavelets, originating from different points, interact and interfere with each other. As a result, the new wavefront is formed by the superposition of these wavelets.[1]
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