Electro-optical effects and non-linear optical phenomena in passive media

The literature on electro-optical effects, to be discussed in this chapter, includes both the electric field induced changes of refractive indices (i.e. Kerr- and Pockels-effect) as well as electric field induced changes in light absorption (electrochromic effects) in dielectrics. While the number of papers reporting the measurement of electro-optic coefficients has decreased, there has been an increase in the publications dealing with applications of well known materials for modulators, integrated optics devices etc. Since it was necessary to limit the size of this review, most of the application oriented work has only been listed in the bibliography.