Diffraction pattern and optical activity of complex fluids under external electric field

摘要

We have used laser diffraction methods to demonstrate that water-in-oil microemulsions and emulsions under an electric field present diffraction patterns and optical activity, which can be tuned by the external electric field. When the optical rotation angle increases with the electric field, the electric vector of incident polarized light rotates clockwise. It is thought that the spatial symmetry breaking of the distribution of the droplets and the charges induced by the applied electric field is the origin of the phenomena in the complex fluids.