Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

In Situ Measurement of Vacuum Window Birefringence using 25Mg+ Fluorescence
Published on: June 13, 2020
The effect of axial magnetic fields on gas lasers
1Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics of the National Bureau of Standards and the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Abstract:
An expression is obtained for the intensity of polarized light transmitted through a laser amplifier and linear polarizer, as a function of the strength of an axial magnetic field. The result is compared with an experiment reported by Hotz in which it was claimed that the natural width of the laser transition was measured. The effect of applying a magnetic field parallel to the axis of a laser having plane-parallel windows is also considered. The variation in the frequency of beats between oppositely circularly polarized modes, as a function of magnetic field, is obtained. The result shows that an experiment performed by Culshaw and Kannelaud cannot be interpreted as a level-crossing effect as was previously supposed.
Related Concept Videos
Magnetic Fields
A magnetic field is defined by the force that a charged particle experiences...
Magnetic Field Of A Current Loop
Atomic Nuclei: Magnetic Resonance
π Electron Effects on Chemical Shift: Overview
Electromagnetic Fields
However, the observation of Gauss's...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

