Laser-induced birefringence in pure liquids

The optical Kerr effect has been studied in the six liquids carbon disulphide, pyridine, benzene, toluene, benzoyl chloride and nitrobenzene. By quantifying the equivalent laser field strength, the optical Kerr constants of these materials have been determined. The results obtained are in agreement with published depolarized Rayleigh scattering measurements. These experimental data have been applied in an appraisal of a number of published theories of the optical Kerr effect, all of which showed at best only order-of-magnitude agreement.