Optical rotation

Optical rotation or optical activity (sometimes referred to as rotary polarization) is the rotation of the plane of polarization of linearly polarized light as it travels through certain materials. Optical activity occurs only in chiral materials, those lacking microscopic mirror symmetry. Unlike other sources of birefringence which alter a beam's state of polarization, optical activity can be observed in fluids. This can include gases or solutions of chiral molecules such as sugars, molecules with helical secondary structure such as some proteins, and also chiral liquid crystals. It can also be observed in chiral solids such as certain crystals with a rotation between adacent crystal planes (such as quartz) or metamaterials. Rotation of light's plane of polarization may also occur through the Faraday effect which involves a static magnetic field, however this is a distinct phenomenon that is not usually classified under "optical activity."