Long-transient conoscopic pattern technique

0038-1098; Recent results on laser induced anisotropy in terbium gallium garnet are extended to the dynamic regime. We observed that the characteristic conoscopic pattern formation time presents a quadratic dependence on the beam size. The observed pattern intensity is accounted for by a simple analytical formula. The transient refractive index change due to thermal stress in the terbium gallium garnet is determined. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.