Question
Barium titanate and nitrobenzene can be used in a type of cell that uses this effect to produce microsecond camera shutter speeds. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name this effect that results in a change in index of refraction equal to the product of wavelength, a material-dependent constant, and the square of the strength of the applied electric field.
ANSWER: Kerr effect [or quadratic electro-optic effect or QEO effect; accept Kerr cell or Kerr shutter; prompt on EO effect or electro-optic effect]
[10e] Materials subject to the Kerr effect display this phenomenon also exhibited by mica, in which the index of refraction depends on the polarization of light.
ANSWER: birefringence [or birefringent material]
[10h] The Kerr effect can induce this process for a non-uniform laser beam, canceling out diffraction and allowing the beam to undergo filament propagation. Gurgen Askaryan first identified this process in 1962, the same year he proposed the Askaryan effect.
ANSWER: self-focusing [or Kerr-induced self-focusing; prompt on focusing]
<Physics>
Summary
| 2024 ACF Nationals | 2024-04-21 | Y | 3 | 13.33 | 100% | 33% | 0% |