Measurement of birefringence in ZnCdTe

Abstract Birefringence was observed for the first time in the ferroelectric phase of ZnCdTe samples containing 10% and 4% ZnTe. Near the transition temperature, the birefringence varied linearly with the temperature. The temperature coefficient of the indices of refraction was also measured and these also revealed the anisotropy of the ferroelectric phase and that the transition is diffuse over 10C.