An electrooptic method is useful for measuring electric fields without disturbing them. Our investigations have been concerned with measurements of electric field distribution. Three-dimensional nonuniform electric field distributions were measured in nitrobenzene using the Kerr electrooptic measurement. The field distributions to be measured were produced in a sphere-to-sphere electrode system. The optical system consisted of a He–Ne laser, a polarizer, a quarter-wave plate, an experimental cell, an analyzer, and a photodetector. When a negative high voltage pulse was applied to the electrode system, the light intensity transmitted to the analyzer was measured using the photodetector. Intensity measurements were carried out at many points from θ= 0 to π around the electrode system. From the data obtained, the electric field distribution, i.e., the strength and direction of each electric field vector in the measured plane, was reconstructed using a computed tomography (CT) technique. The measured distributions were compared with the theoretical ones calculated using an analytical method.

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It is very difficult to measure nonuniform electric field distributions in insulators. The optical measurements of the electric field were investigated in nitrobenzene using the Kerr effect. A sphere-to-sphere electrode or a sphere-to-plane electrode system was used to produce the nonuniform electric field. A rectangular test cell was made of teflon with two glass windows. A He-Ne laser was used for a light source. The intensity of the light transmitted through the cell was measured with a photodiode. The two-dimensional electric field distribution expressed in absolute value was reconstructed by the computed tomography (CT) method. The measured electric fields were compared with the theoretical one and good agreement was obtained.

The three-dimensional nonuniform electric field vector distribution was measured in a nonsymmetrical electrode system using the Kerr electrooptic effect with the reconstruction technique modified by computed tomography (CT). The intensity of the light transmitted through a dielectric liquid in nonuniform field was detected at many points on one plane. It was found that the nonuniform electric field in the liquid can be measured three-dimensionally and visualized.

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