Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels
Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels (1865 - 1913) was a German physicist. He was born in Italy to Captain Theodore Pockels and Alwine Becker. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Göttingen in 1888, and from 1900 to 1913 he was professor of theoretical physics at the University of Heidelberg.
In 1893 he discovered that a steady electric field applied to certain birefringent materials causes the refractive index to vary, approximately in proportion to the strength of the field. The coefficient of proportionality is of the order of 10-10 to 10-12 V-1. This phenomenon is now called the Pockels effect.
His sister Agnes Pockels (1862-1935) was also a physicist.
Last updated: 08-22-2005 20:50:33
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details