Dichroism and birefringence of single crystals of cadmium selenide

Abstract

Single crystals of cadmium selenide have been grown from the melt in vacuo . The coefficient of absorption, both for the ordinary and extraordinary beam, has been measured over the wavelength range 0.73 to 2.0 μ . Dichroism has been observed in the vicinity of the absorption edge. A method for the measurement of the difference between the refractive indices in cadmium selenide for the ordinary and extraordinary beam has been worked out. These measurements were carried out at room, and at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Birefringence was found to change from positive to negative near the absorption edge. Direct measurements of the refractive indices were carried out for the wavelength region 0.73 to 2.0 μ .