Measuring photoelastic coefficients with Schaefer–Bergmann diffraction

A novel technique for measuring the relative photoelastic coefficients using Schaefer-Bergmann diffraction is introduced and applied to fused silica and α - BaB 2 O 4 . The measurements of fused silica agree with the accepted values to within 0.4%, and the α - BaB 2 O 4 measurements are verified with results presented in this paper from the established Dixon method.