A Wollaston prism splits a broadband input beam into two separately accessible beams with highly pure orthogonal linear polarizations. The prisms are fabricated from select-grade calcite prisms pairs, cemented together, and assembled for convenient mounting.
Separate broadband light into two high purity polarized beams
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wollaston-polarizing-prisms - Drawings
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Specifications
Diameter
25.4 mm
Material
Optical Grade Calcite
Extinction Ratio
>100,000:1
Damage Threshold
1 W/cm2
Surface Quality
20-10 scratch-dig
Surface Flatness
<λ/4 at 632.8 nm
Housing
Black anodized aluminum
Clear Aperture
10.0 mm diameter
Transmitted Beam Deviation
20° (nominal)
Wavefront Distortion
<λ/2 at 632.8 nm, P-V
Features
Wollaston Polarizing Prism Construction
Wollaston prisms are fabricated from select-grade calcite right angle prism pairs, cemented together to form a cubical optic. The cemented prism pair is assembled into a 25.4 mm diameter black anodized aluminum housing with a 10 mm clear aperture. One of the housing's faces features a slotted indentation to aid with assembly, while the other face is white marked to indicate the optical plane within which the S- and P-polarized beams separate.
How Wollaston Polarizing Prisms Work
The optical axes of each prism in the pair are simultaneously perpendicular to one another and perpendicular to the propagating beam. This results in crystal axis orientation suddenly changing at the interface between the two prisms. The beam component that is S-polarized (relative to the prism hypotenuse) will experience a decrease in refractive index equal to the difference between ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices for Calcite. Light that is P-polarized will experience an equal but opposite change, or an increase of the index from the extraordinary index to the ordinary index. Thus, S- and P- polarized components of the incoming beam will diffract into opposite directions. The final output beams will exit the back port of the polarizer housing with a nominal separation angle of 20 degrees.
Excellent Optical Properties
Our Wollaston Calcite Crystal Linear Polarizing Prisms are designed for the most demanding applications that require two separately accessible, high purity orthogonal linearly polarized beams. They use optical grade calcite, which features excellent optical properties, including an extinction ration of greater than 100.000:1. Available uncoated or with a wide variety of AR coatings, they offer precision surface quality of 20-10 scratch-dig and low wavefront distortion.
Recommended Mounting
The housing has been designed to mount into our standard 25.4 mm optic holders, rotary stages, and precision positioning components by using the LT series holders. The Wollaston prism housing is 18 mm long with a 25.4 mm diameter, and we recommend to use the LT10-10
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