This article is cited in 14 papers

Optical properties

Birefringence properties of mechanically clamped K$_2$ZnCl$_4$ crystals

V. I. Stadnik^a, V. M. Gaba^b, B. V. Andrievskii^c, Z. A. Kogut<sup>b

a</sup> Ivan Franko National University of L'viv
^b Lviv Polytechnic National University
^c Koszalin University of Technology, Koszalin, 75-453, Poland

Abstract: The effect of uniaxial pressure applied along the principal crystallographic directions on the dispersion and temperature dependences of the birefringence $\Delta n_i$ of K$_2$ZnCl$_4$ crystals has been studied. It has been established that the birefringence $\Delta n_i$ is sensitive to uniaxial pressures and that the uniaxial stresses do not change the character of the dispersion and temperature dependences of $\Delta n_i$. A new “pseudoisotropic” state of this crystal has been revealed. It has been found that the points of the paraphase-incommensurate phase-commensurate phase transitions can be significantly shifted under pressure toward different temperature ranges depending on the direction of the applied pressure due to the effect of uniaxial stresses on the structure of the K$_2$ZnCl$_4$ crystal.

Received: 08.12.2009
Accepted: 07.05.2010

 English version: Physics of the Solid State, 2011, 53:1, 131–137

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