Cotton-Mouton effect

In 1907 the two discovered the Cotton-Mouton effect, an intense magnetic birefringence with optical axis parallel to the magnetic field lines.

He is best known for his discovery in 1907 of the Cotton-Mouton effect in collaboration with Aimé Cotton.

For light propagating purely perpendicular to the axis of gyration, the properties are known as the Cotton-Mouton effect and used for a Circulator.

In physical optics, the Cotton-Mouton effect refers to the double refraction of light in a liquid in the presence of a constant transverse magnetic field.

Currently, we are exploring the possibility of measuring toroidal magnetic field and poloidal plasma current by using the plasma bi-refringence effect, or the Cotton-Mouton effect.

Magneto-optic modulators, using magnetooptic effects such as Faraday and Cotton-Mouton effects, one can modulate the amplitude and frequency of light up to tens of GHz.

When a liquid plays this role, the effect is much stronger (i.e. the proportionality to the square of the magnetic field is greater), and is known as the Cotton-Mouton effect.

Refractive modulators most often make use of electro-optic effect (amplitude & phase modulation), other modulators are made with acousto-optic effect, magneto-optic effect such as Faraday and Cotton-Mouton effects.