Temperature dependence of electro-optic effect and natural linear birefringence in quartz measured by low-coherence interferometry

Temperature dependencies of the half-wave voltage and natural linear birefringence in mechanically free quartz are measured at 1560 nm in the temperature range of 85-310 K. Measurements are carried out using a low-coherence interferometric scheme with a pair of identical quartz crystals independently linked with a scanning Michelson interferometer. Half-wave voltage V11 driven by an electro-optic coefficient r11 grows from 868 kV at 85 K to 923 kV at 310 K. The temperature derivative of natural linear birefringence Δn has nearly linear temperature dependence: ∂Δn/∂T=-7.260×10(-7)-9.93×10(-10) T K(-1). Moderate temperature dependence of the electro-optic effect, along with other properties, makes quartz an appropriate sensing medium for electro-optic voltage sensors for the electric power industry.