Article
Article
Dichroism
Article By:
Podraza, Nikolas J. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.192100
The result of a difference in the dampening (absorption) of components of electromagnetic waves (light) incident upon a sample, with the waves along one principal direction experiencing a different absorption coefficient relative to the others. Light incident on dichroic materials may appear to be split into differently colored beams or polarized in one direction as a component of the light is preferentially absorbed. For example, light transmitted by thin plates of dark forms of tourmaline, a naturally occurring mineral, is almost completely polarized as one component of the incident light beam is absorbed relative to the other. See also: Absorption of electromagnetic radiation; Polarized light
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