Question

Explain double refraction (birefringence) of light.

Answer 1

Double refraction. Double refraction, also called birefringence, an optical property in which a single ray of unpolarized light entering an anisotropic medium is split into two rays, each traveling in a different direction. ... The Figure shows the phenomenon of double refractionthrough a calcite crystal.

Answer 2

Light passing through a calcite crystal is split into two rays. This process, first reported by Erasmus Bartholinus in 1669, is called double refraction. The two rays of light are each plane polarized by the calcite such that the planes of polarization are mutually perpendicular.