birefringence
- noun
- /ˌbaɪrɪˈfrɪndʒəns/
- Specialized
- Tissue cultures are often prepared with polymers that present birefringence, thus making phase contrast the favored imaging system.
- birefringence under polarized light
- green birefringence
Examples
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After the amyloid deposits were treated with KMnO4, they retained their green birefringence under polarized light.
Academic text (2004) -
Congo red binding and green birefringence under polarized light
Academic text (2004) -
Otherwise known as the birefringence, an optical phenomenon caused by the light and...
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Stern recalled that the birefringence question was raised at a seminar.
Academic text (2003) -
Likewise, the lack of magnetic birefringence became a more insistent puzzle.
Academic text (2003) -
D: Polarized light microscopy reveals the typical green birefringence of the amyloid deposits (arrows).
Academic text (2004) -
The Congo-red-stained deposits reflected a green birefringence under polarized light, thus revealing the specimen's amyloid nature (Figure 1, C and D).
Academic text (2004) -
The absorption, index homogeneity, and stress birefringence target values at 157 nm are the same as for optical materials at 193 nm.
Academic text (2001) -
Birefringence measurements have indicated a reorganization of the extracellular matrix components into a structure with greater alignment and more intense molecular packing, accompanied by an increase in tensile strength (68).
Academic text (1995) -
The best-known example of birefringence is the polarized double images that are seen when a printed page is viewed through a transparent crystal of calcite.
Synonyms
A beam of light that splits into two rays that vibrate at right angles in some crystals
Surface Forms
Morphology
birefringence = birefringent (semi-transparent) = bi + refring + ence
The noun is formed regularly from the adjective 'birefringent' by the nominalizing suffix '-ence'.
Etymology
The word birefringence comes from bi- meaning 'two' and a root like refract, as in 'refraction', meaning 'to bend' or 'break' light. So birefringence describes a material that literally makes one beam of light split into two rays, which is why the word means that property today.