Circular birefringence

{
  "id": "MLC-T-CHM-002081",
  "term": "Circular birefringence",
  "field": "Chemistry",
  "definition": "The property of a chiral medium in which left-handed and right-handed circularly polarized light travel at different speeds because the medium has a different refractive index for each. Linearly polarized light, being a combination of the two, has its plane rotated as it passes through, which is observed as optical rotation. It is expressed as the dimensionless difference between the two indices, n(L) minus n(R).",
  "subject": "Analytical Chemistry",
  "see_also": [
    "electromagnetic radiation",
    "wavenumber in medium"
  ],
  "references": [
    "PAC, 2021, 93, 647. 'Glossary of methods and terms used in analytical spectroscopy (IUPAC Recommendations 2019)' on page 653 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0203)"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/chemistry/circular-birefringence/"
}