3-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRIC-FIELD VECTOR MEASUREMENTS IN NITROBENZENE USING KERR-EFFECT

We have been investigating a nonuniform electric field measurement met hod in dielectric liquids using the Kerr electrooptic effect. Three-di mensional electric field vectors were measured as the first step in de termining the three-dimensional nonuniform electric field distribution s. The electric field vector to be measured was produced in a pair of inclined parallel-plane electrodes. Negative high-voltage pulses were applied to the electrode system. Nitrobenzene with large Kerr constant was used in the experiments. A He-Ne leaser beam passed through nitro benzene between the electrodes along two different orthogonal directio ns. The magnitude and the direction of the electric field vector were calculated from the light intensity measured by a photodiode. Maximum errors of measured electric field strength and direction were 9.3% and 4.3-degrees, respectively.