Talk:Zinc selenide
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Maybe some mention of the fact that it falls under the class of compunds called chalcogenide should be included here.
[edit] Use in optical isolators
ZnSe has a reasonably large Verdet constant (roughly 1 min. cm-1G-1 at λ = 500nm) and was suggested for use in optical isolators, see Wunderlich J. A. and DeShazer L. G., Applied Optics 16 (6), 1584 (1977). Note that although the rare-earth orthoferrites have much higher Verdet constants, they are birefringent and aren't much good at producing large angles of rotation. However, I have found an article (Turner A. E. et al., Applied Optics 22 (20), 3152 (1983)) where dilute magnetic semiconductors, specifically Cd1-xMnxTe, are shown to have much higher Verdet constants and therefore lead to a more compact design. Unfortunately, I have no contact with any optical laboratories, so I don't know whether Zinc Selenide is still used for such purposes. Does anyone know? Woodford (talk) 07:20, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

