Measurement of Faraday Rotation in Megagauss Fields over the Continuous Visible Spectrum

Abstract

A method is described for making Faraday rotation measurements simultaneously over most of the visible spectrum at magnetic fields in the megagauss range. The fields are produced by explosive-driven magnetic flux compression systems and typically reach 1.2 MG in a few tens of microseconds. The optical train consists of an explosive white light source, polarizer, sample, analyzer, and a sweeping image spectrograph. The technique is applicable to solid or liquid samples. Verdet coefficients are given for LiF, H2O, and fused quartz over the wave-length range from about 4000 to 6300 Å. The coefficients generally agree to within ±2% with previously published values except for fused quartz for which the present values are somewhat higher at the short wavelength end.