Optical Kerr shutter (OKS) measurements were performed in a solution of a m
esoionic compound (MIC) in dimethylsulfoxide using 10 ns pulses of broadban
d noisy light with a coherence time of 160 fs. The results show a light ind
uced birefringence with two main components: an instantaneous one, which fo
llows the laser coherence time, and a sub-picosecond component, with a char
acteristic time of 560 fs, which is attributed to the birefringence decay d
ue to molecular interactions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res
erved.