Abstract

An interferometric arrangement that automatically compensates for thermal expansion was used to examine the changes in the refractive index of liquid water at 632.8 nm as a function of temperature from 10 to -15 °C. By combining the results of this research with existing data, we calculated the absolute refractive index in the supercooled region with an accuracy ranging from 3 × 10^-6 to 1 × 10^-5. A direct observation of the refractive-index maximum of water is reported for the first time to our knowledge and found to occur between 0 and 0.1 °C.

© 2002 Optical Society of America

Interferometer for measuring the absolute refractive index of liquid water as a function of temperature at 1.064 μm

Bernold Richerzhagen
Appl. Opt. 35(10) 1650-1653 (1996)

Change of refractive index of water as a function of temperature*

Harry M. Dobbins and Edson R. Peck
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 63(3) 318-320 (1973)

Measurement of the induced refractive index in a photothermorefractive glass by a liquid-cell shearing interferometer

Oleg M. Efimov, Leonid B. Glebov, and Hervé P. Andre
Appl. Opt. 41(10) 1864-1871 (2002)

Two-wavelength interferometric technique for measuring the refractive index of salt-water solutions

W. Lu and W. M. Worek
Appl. Opt. 32(21) 3992-4002 (1993)

Changes in the optical properties (at 632.8 nm) of slowly heated myocardium

John W. Pickering, Saskia Bosman, Paul Posthumus, Peter Blokland, Johan F. Beek, and Martin J. C. van Gemert
Appl. Opt. 32(4) 367-371 (1993)