Modifying the spectral distribution of white light via stress birefringence in a transparent elastomer

Abstract

This study investigates how the spectral distribution of white light changes as uniform stress is applied to a transparent elastomer. The behavior of the transmitted intensities for different wavelengths was observed as the sample was stretched. It was noticed that the intensities of the transmitted light through the sample for both white LED and incandescent lamp behaved similarly, increasing to a certain point but also decreasing as more stress was applied. It was further noticed that only a certain wavelength of light was transmitted at a certain amount of stress. Hence, this study may aid in the design of an optical filter based on transparent elastomers.