Kerr Coefficients of Nitrobenzene and Water.

摘要

The Kerr coefficients of both water and nitrobenzene were measured and the variation of these quantities with temperature and wavelength was investigated. At a temperature of 296 K and at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, the following values for the Kerr coefficients were obtained B(C6H5NO2) = 3.24 x 10 to the -12th power m/V sq., and B(H2O) = 3.43 x 10 to the -14th power m/V sq. The estimated uncertainty in the measurement in nitrobenzene is + or - 6 percent while in water the estimated uncertainty is + or - 8 percent. The primary conclusion drawn is that although nitrobenzene can be used for accurate measurement of a wide, and fairly well defined, variety of high voltage pulses, the situation in water is more poorly understood. The primary areas of difficulty using water are the existence of turbulence under pulses of duration of a few microseconds and the possibility of a voltage dependence of the Kerr coefficient due to a saturation of the alignment of the molecules with the applied field. (Author)