Origin and applications of magnetically tunable refractive index of magnetic fluid films

When an external field was applied, the refractive index of the magnetic fluid film was observed to be modulated as the field exceeded a critical strength. We found that the stronger the magnetic field, the higher the refractive index. By taking both the formation of the columns and the variation in the concentration of the liquid phase in magnetic fluid films under external magnetic fields into account, the refractive index was calculated and compared with experimental data. When we did this, we noticed a consistency that implies that the phase separation leads to the variation in the refractive index of the magnetic fluid film as the magnetic field strength is changed. With such a property as a tunable refractive index, the feasibility of using a magnetic fluid in a tunable optical device is worthy of investigation.

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