Can OSLO handle non-isotropic media, such as Quartz?

Synopsis

Non-isotropic media and OSLO

Solution

OSLO has the capability of tracing rays through uniaxial birefringent materials such as calcite (PremiumEdition only). In the physical world, a ray incident upon a birefringent material will be split into two rays ( o and e), with orthogonal linear polarizations. In OSLO, the data for the ordinary indices are taken from the normal glass specification for the surface. Since OSLO does not split rays, you specify the surface as being birefringent in combination with defining an extraordinary refractive index and a direction of the uniaxial optic axis. The easiest way to see the results of tracing both ray sets through the system is to make the system a multiconfiguration system, where each configuration specifies the rays ( o or e) that are traced through the medium.