magneto-optical shutter
Quick Summary
A magneto-optical shutter is a device used in high-speed photography to control exposure times, which are typically shorter than 1/1,000 of a second. This technology is part of magneto-optics, a field of physics that studies how magnetic fields affect light.12
The shutter works by using a magnetic field to rotate the plane of polarized light. It consists of a glass cylinder between two polarizing filters. When a magnetic field is applied, it rotates the light's polarization, allowing it to pass through the second filter and expose the film. This allows for extremely short exposure times, down to around five nanoseconds (5 x 10-9 seconds), which is crucial for capturing fast-moving phenomena in science and industry.1
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