Channelled spectrum method for birefringence dispersion measurement of anisotropic Mylar film

•The channelled spectrum method (CS) is an accurate interferometric technique for birefringence dispersion measurement.•The method leads to direct determination of birefringence, without other intermediate steps.•The birefringence was verified for four models, the one and three band models and for two and three coefficient Cauchy models.•The CS gives the birefringence for a continuous spectral range of wavelengths.•This technique can be used for any transparent anisotropic thin film.

A convenient and accurate interferometric technique for measuring the birefringence dispersion of anisotropic Mylar film according to a continuous spectral range of wavelengths in the ultraviolet, visible and near infrared region, using the so called “Channelled Spectrum” method is described. The technique proposed here consists of considering all the experimental data, not only the minima of the transmitted light obtained after recording the transmitted light that travelled a Mylar film sandwiched between two crossed polarizers. Furthermore, we are able to measure the transmission coefficients of the polarizers, the absorption of the Mylar sheet, and other parameters involved in the experiment by using a spectroscopic detection. Thus, the transmission of the Mylar sheet vs wavelength is deduced. Using the dispersion of the optical birefringence given by the birefringence dispersion theory for uniaxial organic compounds ie the one band, three-band, and Cauchy models, and by applying a nonlinear fitting procedure on the recorded experimental data, we have obtained the parameters involved in the expressions of the optical birefringence and we have computed the optical birefringence of the Mylar film vs wavelengths. In the visible and near-infrared regions, all models give excellent fits to the experimental data. In the UV region, the three-band model considers the resonance effect. Thus, in the near-resonance region the results from the three-band model are more accurate.