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Faraday effect
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{{Short description|Physical magneto-optical phenomenon}} The '''Faraday effect''' or '''Faraday rotation''', sometimes referred to as the '''magneto-optic Faraday effect''' ('''MOFE'''),<ref name="UrsMozooni2016">{{cite journal|last1=Urs|first1=Necdet Onur|last2=Mozooni|first2=Babak|last3=Mazalski|first3=Piotr|last4=Kustov|first4=Mikhail|last5=Hayes|first5=Patrick|last6=Deldar|first6=Shayan|last7=Quandt|first7=Eckhard|last8=McCord|first8=Jeffrey|year=2016|title=Advanced magneto-optical microscopy: Imaging from picoseconds to centimeters - imaging spin waves and temperature distributions (invited)|journal=AIP Advances|volume=6|issue=5|pages=055605|bibcode=2016AIPA....6e5605U|doi=10.1063/1.4943760|issn=2158-3226|doi-access=free|hdl=10044/1/34544|hdl-access=free}}</ref> is a [[physics|physical]] [[magneto-optic]]al phenomenon. The Faraday effect causes a [[polarization (waves)|polarization]] rotation which is proportional to the projection of the [[magnetic field]] along the direction of the [[light]] propagation. Formally, it is a special case of [[gyroelectromagnetism]] obtained when the [[dielectric permittivity]] [[tensor]] is diagonal.<ref name="Prati2003">{{cite journal |last1=Prati |first1=E. |date=2003 |title=Propagation in gyroelectromagnetic guiding systems |journal= [[Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications]]|volume=17 |issue=8 |pages=1177β1196 |doi=10.1163/156939303322519810 |bibcode=2003JEWA...17.1177P |s2cid=121509049 }}</ref> This effect occurs in most optically [[Transparency (optics)|transparent]] [[dielectric]] materials (including liquids) under the influence of [[magnetic field]]s. Discovered by [[Michael Faraday]] in 1845, the Faraday effect was the first experimental evidence that light and electromagnetism are related. The theoretical basis of [[electromagnetic radiation]] (which includes visible light) was completed by [[James Clerk Maxwell]] in the 1860s. Maxwell's equations were rewritten in their current form in the 1870s by [[Oliver Heaviside]]. The Faraday effect is caused by left and right [[Circular polarization|circularly polarized]] waves propagating at slightly different speeds, a property known as [[Optical rotation|circular birefringence]]. Since a linear polarization can be decomposed into the [[Superposition principle|superposition]] of two equal-amplitude circularly polarized components of opposite handedness and different phase, the effect of a relative [[Phase (waves)|phase]] shift, induced by the Faraday effect, is to rotate the orientation of a wave's linear polarization. The Faraday effect has applications in measuring instruments. For instance, the Faraday effect has been used to measure optical rotatory power and for [[remote sensing]] of magnetic fields (such as [[fiber optic current sensor]]s). The Faraday effect is used in [[spintronics]] research to study the polarization of electron spins in semiconductors. [[Faraday rotator]]s can be used for amplitude modulation of light, and are the basis of [[optical isolator]]s and [[optical circulators]]; such components are required in optical telecommunications and other laser applications.<ref>See https://www.rp-photonics.com/regenerative_amplifiers.html</ref>
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