Abstract
A new kind of interference fringes, fringes of equal tangential inclination by curvature-induced birefringence, is presented. These are two-beam interference fringes produced by bending a thin sheet of birefringent material into a part of an exact cylinder such that the curvature is constant. Due to this curvature there is a uniform birefringence being induced. The change in birefringence induced by applying different radii of curvatures to a Fortepan sheet is measured. The stored (fixed) or natural birefringence of this sheet is deduced.