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AnisotropyWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Anisotropy
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Anisotropy/nastrpi/isthepropertyofbeing
directionallydependent,asopposedtoisotropy,which
impliesidenticalpropertiesinalldirections.Itcanbe
definedasadifference,whenmeasuredalongdifferent
axes,inamaterial'sphysicalormechanicalproperties
(absorbance,refractiveindex,conductivity,tensilestrength,
etc.)Anexampleofanisotropyisthelightcomingthrough
apolarizer.Anotheriswood,whichiseasiertosplitalong
itsgrainthanagainstit.

WMAPimageofthe(extremelytiny)anisotropies
inthecosmicbackgroundradiation

Contents
1 Fieldsofinterest
1.1 Computergraphics
1.2 Chemistry
1.3 Realworldimagery
1.4 Physics
1.5 Geophysicsandgeology
1.6 Medicalacoustics
1.7 Materialscienceandengineering
1.8 Microfabrication
1.9 Neuroscience
1.10 AtmosphericRadiativeTransfer
2 References
3 Externallinks

Fieldsofinterest
Computergraphics
Inthefieldofcomputergraphics,ananisotropicsurfacechangesinappearanceasitrotatesaboutitsgeometric
normal,asisthecasewithvelvet.
Anisotropicfiltering(AF)isamethodofenhancingtheimagequalityoftexturesonsurfacesthatarefaraway
andsteeplyangledwithrespecttothepointofview.Oldertechniques,suchasbilinearandtrilinearfiltering,do
nottakeintoaccounttheangleasurfaceisviewedfrom,whichcanresultinaliasingorblurringoftextures.By
reducingdetailinonedirectionmorethananother,theseeffectscanbereduced.

Chemistry
Achemicalanisotropicfilter,asusedtofilterparticles,isafilterwithincreasinglysmallerinterstitialspacesin
thedirectionoffiltrationsothattheproximalregionsfilteroutlargerparticlesanddistalregionsincreasingly
removesmallerparticles,resultingingreaterflowthroughandmoreefficientfiltration.
InNMRspectroscopy,theorientationofnucleiwithrespecttotheappliedmagneticfielddeterminestheir
chemicalshift.Inthiscontext,anisotropicsystemsrefertotheelectrondistributionofmoleculeswith
abnormallyhighelectrondensity,likethepisystemofbenzene.Thisabnormalelectrondensityaffectsthe
appliedmagneticfieldandcausestheobservedchemicalshifttochange.
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Influorescencespectroscopy,thefluorescenceanisotropy,calculatedfromthepolarizationpropertiesof
fluorescencefromsamplesexcitedwithplanepolarizedlight,isused,e.g.,todeterminetheshapeofa
macromolecule.Anisotropymeasurementsrevealtheaverageangulardisplacementofthefluorophorethat
occursbetweenabsorptionandsubsequentemissionofaphoton.

Realworldimagery
Imagesofagravityboundormanmadeenvironmentareparticularlyanisotropicintheorientationdomain,
withmoreimagestructurelocatedatorientationsparallelwithororthogonaltothedirectionofgravity(vertical
andhorizontal).

Physics
PhysicistsfromUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeleyreported
abouttheirdetectionofthecosineanisotropyincosmic
microwavebackgroundradiationin1977.Theirexperiment
demonstratedtheDopplershiftcausedbythemovementof
theearthwithrespecttotheearlyUniversematter,the
sourceoftheradiation.[1]Cosmicanisotropyhasalsobeen
seeninthealignmentofgalaxies'rotationaxesand
polarisationanglesofquasars.
Physicistsusethetermanisotropytodescribedirection
dependentpropertiesofmaterials.Magneticanisotropy,for
example,mayoccurinaplasma,sothatitsmagneticfield
isorientedinapreferreddirection.Plasmasmayalsoshow
"filamentation"(suchasthatseeninlightningoraplasma
globe)thatisdirectional.
Ananisotropicliquidhasthefluidityofanormalliquid,but
hasanaveragestructuralorderrelativetoeachotheralong
themolecularaxis,unlikewaterorchloroform,which
containnostructuralorderingofthemolecules.Liquid
crystalsareexamplesofanisotropicliquids.

Aplasmalampdisplayingthenatureofplasmas,in
thiscase,thephenomenonof"filamentation"

Somematerialsconductheatinawaythatisisotropic,thatisindependentofspatialorientationaroundtheheat
source.Heatconductionismorecommonlyanisotropic,whichimpliesthatdetailedgeometricmodelingof
typicallydiversematerialsbeingthermallymanagedisrequired.Thematerialsusedtotransferandrejectheat
fromtheheatsourceinelectronicsareoftenanisotropic.
Manycrystalsareanisotropictolight("opticalanisotropy"),andexhibitpropertiessuchasbirefringence.
Crystalopticsdescribeslightpropagationinthesemedia.An"axisofanisotropy"isdefinedastheaxisalong
whichisotropyisbroken(oranaxisofsymmetry,suchasnormaltocrystallinelayers).Somematerialscan
havemultiplesuchopticalaxes.

Geophysicsandgeology
Seismicanisotropyisthevariationofseismicwavespeedwithdirection.Seismicanisotropyisanindicatorof
longrangeorderinamaterial,wherefeaturessmallerthantheseismicwavelength(e.g.,crystals,cracks,pores,
layersorinclusions)haveadominantalignment.Thisalignmentleadstoadirectionalvariationofelasticity
wavespeed.Measuringtheeffectsofanisotropyinseismicdatacanprovideimportantinformationabout
processesandmineralogyintheEarthindeed,significantseismicanisotropyhasbeendetectedintheEarth's
crust,mantleandinnercore.

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Geologicalformationswithdistinctlayersofsedimentarymaterialcanexhibitelectricalanisotropyelectrical
conductivityinonedirection(e.g.paralleltoalayer),isdifferentfromthatinanother(e.g.perpendiculartoa
layer).Thispropertyisusedinthegasandoilexplorationindustrytoidentifyhydrocarbonbearingsandsin
sequencesofsandandshale.Sandbearinghydrocarbonassetshavehighresistivity(lowconductivity),whereas
shaleshavelowerresistivity.Formationevaluationinstrumentsmeasurethisconductivity/resistivityandthe
resultsareusedtohelpfindoilandgasinwells.
Thehydraulicconductivityofaquifersisoftenanisotropicforthesamereason.Whencalculatinggroundwater
flowtodrains[2]ortowells,[3]thedifferencebetweenhorizontalandverticalpermeabilitymustbetakeninto
account,otherwisetheresultsmaybesubjecttoerror.
Mostcommonrockformingmineralsareanisotropic,includingquartzandfeldspar.Anisotropyinmineralsis
mostreliablyseenintheiropticalproperties.Anexampleofanisotropicmineralisgarnet.

Medicalacoustics
Anisotropyisalsoawellknownpropertyinmedicalultrasoundimagingdescribingadifferentresulting
echogenicityofsofttissues,suchastendons,whentheangleofthetransducerischanged.Tendonfibersappear
hyperechoic(bright)whenthetransducerisperpendiculartothetendon,butcanappearhypoechoic(darker)
whenthetransducerisangledobliquely.Thiscanbeasourceofinterpretationerrorforinexperienced
practitioners.

Materialscienceandengineering
Anisotropy,inMaterialScience,isamaterialsdirectionaldependenceofaphysicalproperty.Mostmaterials
exhibitanisotropicbehavior.AnexamplewouldbethedependenceofYoung'smodulusonthedirectionof
load.[4]Anisotropyinpolycrystallinematerialscanalsobeduetocertaintexturepatternsoftenproducedduring
manufacturingofthematerial.Inthecaseofrolling,"stringers"oftextureareproducedinthedirectionof
rolling,whichcanleadtovastlydifferentpropertiesintherollingandtransversedirections.Somematerials,
suchaswoodandfibrereinforcedcompositesareveryanisotropic,beingmuchstrongeralongthegrain/fibre
thanacrossit.Metalsandalloystendtobemoreisotropic,thoughtheycansometimesexhibitsignificant
anisotropicbehaviour.Thisisespeciallyimportantinprocessessuchasdeepdrawing.
Woodisanaturallyanisotropic(butoftensimplifiedtobetransverselyisotropic)material.Itspropertiesvary
widelywhenmeasuredwithoragainstthegrowthgrain.Forexample,wood'sstrengthandhardnessisdifferent
forthesamesamplemeasuredindifferentorientations.

Microfabrication
Anisotropicetchingtechniques(suchasdeepreactiveionetching)areusedinmicrofabricationprocessesto
createwelldefinedmicroscopicfeatureswithahighaspectratio.ThesefeaturesarecommonlyusedinMEMS
andmicrofluidicdevices,wheretheanisotropyofthefeaturesisneededtoimpartdesiredoptical,electrical,or
physicalpropertiestothedevice.Anisotropicetchingcanalsorefertocertainchemicaletchantsusedtoetcha
certainmaterialpreferentiallyovercertaincrystallographicplanes(e.g.,KOHetchingofsilicon[100]produces
pyramidlikestructures)

Neuroscience
DiffusiontensorimagingisanMRItechniquethatinvolvesmeasuringthefractionalanisotropyoftherandom
motion(Brownianmotion)ofwatermoleculesinthebrain.Watermoleculeslocatedinfibertractsaremore
likelytobeanisotropic,sincetheyarerestrictedintheirmovement(theymovemoreinthedimensionparallel
tothefibertractratherthaninthetwodimensionsorthogonaltoit),whereaswatermoleculesdispersedinthe
restofthebrainhavelessrestrictedmovementandthereforedisplaymoreisotropy.Thisdifferenceinfractional
anisotropyisexploitedtocreateamapofthefibertractsinthebrainsoftheindividual.
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AtmosphericRadiativeTransfer
Radiancefields(seeBRDF)fromareflectivesurfaceareoftennotisotropicinnature.Thismakescalculations
ofthetotalenergybeingreflectedfromanysceneadifficultquantitytocalculate.Inremotesensing
applications,anisotropyfunctionscanbederivedforspecificscenes,immenselysimplifyingthecalculationof
thenetreflectanceor(thereby)thenetirradianceofascene.Forexample,lettheBRDFbe
where'i'
denotesincidentdirectionand'v'denotesviewingdirection(asiffromasatelliteorotherinstrument).AndletP
bethePlanarAlbedo,whichrepresentsthetotalreflectancefromthescene.

Itisofinterestbecause,withknowledgeoftheanisotropyfunctionasdefined,ameasurementoftheBRDF
fromasingleviewingdirection(say, )yieldsameasureofthetotalscenereflectance(PlanarAlbedo)for
thatspecificincidentgeometry(say, ).

References
1.SmootG.F.GorensteinM.V.&MullerR.A.(5October1977)."DetectionofAnisotropyintheCosmicBlackbody
Radiation"(PDF).LawrenceBerkeleyLaboratoryandSpaceSciencesLaboratory,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley.
Retrieved15September2013.
2.R.J.Oosterbaan,1997,Theenergybalanceofgroundwaterflowappliedtosubsurfacedrainageinanisotropicsoilsby
pipesorditcheswithentranceresistance.Online:[1](http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/enerart.pdf).Thecorresponding
freeEnDrainprogramcanbedownloadedfrom:[2](http://www.waterlog.info/endrain.htm).
3.R.J.Oosterbaan,2002,Subsurfacedrainageby(tube)wells,9pp.Online:[3](http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/wellspac.
pdf).ThecorrespondingfreeWellDrainprogramcanbedownloadedfrom:[4](http://www.waterlog.info/weldrain.ht
m)
4.Kocks,U.F.(2000).TextureandAnisotropy:PreferredOrientationsinPolycrystalsandtheireffectonMaterials
Properties.Cambridge.ISBN9780521794206.

Externallinks
"Gauge,andknittedfabricgenerally,isananisotropic
Lookupanisotropyin
phenomenon"(http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer05/FEATsu
Wiktionary,thefree
m05TBP.html)
dictionary.
"OverviewofAnisotropy"(http://aluminium.matter.org.uk/conten
t/html/eng/default.asp?catid=99&pageid=1028022659)
DoITPoMSTeachingandLearningPackage:"IntroductiontoAnisotropy"(http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tl
plib/anisotropy/index.php)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anisotropy&oldid=728142971"
Categories: Orientation(geometry)
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon3July2016,at13:51.
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