Investigation of magneto-induced linear dichroism of magnetic fluid

A fiber-optic component is fabricated with etched fiber coated by magnetic fluid (MF) for its evanescent field to be modulated by the MF. The magneto-induced linear dichroism of the MF is investigated under different temperatures with the component. The experimental results show that the MF possesses weak linear dichroism (maximum of 2.37% at 25°C) caused by its sparse magneto-induced chains. Considering the relationships between the linear dichroisms and temperature, there is a transition point of magnetic field at ∼4 mT. Up to ∼4 mT, the linear dichroisms decrease with the temperature; however, for higher magnetic field strengths, the linear dichroisms increase with the temperature. Interestingly, a small initial linear dichroism (up to 0.255% at 5°C) without magnetic field is also observed.