Kerr effect tomography for nonintrusive spatially resolved measurements of asymmetric electric field distributions

An optical method for nonintrusive spatially resolved measurements of asymmetric electric field distributions in dielectric liquids is presented. Using multiangular Kerr effect measurements the electric field distributions are reconstructed with mathematical techniques known from computer-assisted tomography. The method is applicable to all high voltage devices containing liquids showing Kerr effect, allowing multiangular optical access, and having a relatively uniform electric field direction in the plane where the measurements are performed. The measurement technique is demonstrated experimentally with nitrobenzene. Comparisons between experimentally determined electric field distributions and theoretically calculated distributions show good agreement.