Generation of mirage effect by heated carbon nanotube thin film

Abstract

Mirage effect, a common phenomenon in nature, is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which lights are bent due to the gradient variation of refraction in the temperature gradient medium. The theoretical analysis of mirage effect generated by heated carbon nanotube thin film is presented both for gas and liquid. Excellent agreement is demonstrated through comparing the theoretical prediction with published experimental results. It is concluded from the theoretical prediction and experimental observation that the mirage effect is more likely to happen in liquid. The phase of deflected optical beam is also discussed and the method for measurement of thermal diffusivity of medium is theoretically verified. Furthermore, a method for measuring the refractive index of gas by detecting optical beam deflection is also presented in this paper.