Ukrainian Journal of Physical Optics 

Lviv Centre of Space Research Institute, 5a Naukova Str., 79000, Lviv-53, Ukraine

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In this review article, the attempt is made to give, in a brief form, a methodology of studying a piezo-optical effect, beginning from the methods and basic relations for obtaining the absolute piezo-optical coefficients on the basis of experimental data and finishing with accounting for elastic deformation of sample and the rules for giving positive signs to the axes of the right crystal-physical coordinate system. To make the picture complete, the relations are also given for determination of the piezo-optical coefficients of retardation and birefringence, since they are important in the applied aspects. The article is dedicated mainly to the methods for deriving the working formulae. Considering a restricted volume of the article, we do not touch upon the experimental methodology and its peculiarities, with the only exception for the immersion-interferometric method, which is described in a sufficient detail.
The complete relations (i.e., the relations accounting the elasticity effect) for determining the absolute piezo-optical coefficients by means of interferometric methods are given in table 2, while the relations needed for determining them from the optical indicatrix rotation or the birefringence may be found in the text. The strict expressions for the piezo-optical coefficients of birefringence and retardation, based on the determination of optical polarization constants, are also given in the text. These relations and the appropriate comments give a possibility to study comprehensively the piezo-optical effect in crystals of all the symmetry classes (the remarks concerning the triclinic crystals see in Conclusion).

Key words: piezo-optical effect, elastic deformations, optical indicatrix.
PACS: 78.20.Hp

doi 10.3116/16091833/4/1/1/2003