one of the earliest designs, which is made of two birefringent material prisms cemented together.
Rochon polarizer is one of the earliest designs, which is made of two birefringent material prisms cemented together. Both ordinary and extraordinary beams propagate collinearly down the optic axis in the first prism under the ordinary refractive index. Upon entering the second prism the ordinary beam experiences the same refractive index and continues undeviated. The extra-ordinary beam, however, now has a lower refractive index and is refracted at the interface. The angle of refraction is further increased at the birefringent material/air exit surface. Any separation angle can be designed for specific wavelength upon the requirement. The separation angle of standard products vs wavelength is shown in the plot below.
Separation Angular of Standard Products vs Wavelength
| | a -BBO, 190-3500nm | | Quartz, 200-3300nm |
| | YVO4, 400-4000nm | | MgF2, 160-1500nm |
Specifications
|
| Material | a-BBO, Calcite, YVO4, Quartz |
| Wavelength Range | a-BBO:190-3500 nm,YVO4:400-4000nm,Quartz:200-2300nm |
| Extinction Ratio | Quartz:<5x10 -5 ; a-BBO, YVO4:<5x10 -6 |
| Parallelism | <1 arc Min | |
| Surface Quality | 20-10 |
| Beam Deviation | < 3 arc minutes |
| Wavefornt Distortion | λ/4 @ 633nm |
| Damage Threshold | >500 MW/cm 2 |
| Coating | Single MgF2 |
| Mount | Black Anodized Aluminium |
α-BBO Rochon Polarizer
| | Wavelength Range(nm) | ExtinctionRatio | Angular Field(°) | C.A.(φa)±0.1(mm) | O.D.(φd)±0.1(mm) | L±0.1(mm) |
| | 190-3500nm(Coating@800nm) | <5×10-6 | 8.0-14°8.05°@800nm | 6.0 | 15.0 | 14.0 |
| | 8.0 | 25.4 | 18.0 |
| | 10.0 | 25.4 | 18.0 |
| | 15.0 | 30.0 | 23.0 |
| | 20.0 | 38.0 | 28.0 |
YVO4 Rochon Polarizer
| | Wavelength Range(nm) | ExtinctionRatio | Angular Field(°) | C.A.(φa)±0.1(mm) | O.D.(φd)±0.1(mm) | L±0.1(mm) |
| | 400-4000nm(Coating@1550nm) | <5×10-6 | 9.8-13°8.05°@800nm | 6.0 | 15.0 | 14.0 |
| | 8.0 | 25.4 | 18.0 |
| | 10.0 | 25.4 | 18.0 |
| | 15.0 | 30.0 | 20.0 |
| | 20.0 | 38.0 | 25.0 |
Quartz Rochon Polarizer
| | Wavelength Range(nm) | ExtinctionRatio | Angular Field(°) | C.A.(φa)±0.1(mm) | O.D.(φd)±0.1(mm) | L±0.1(mm) |
| | 200-2300nm(Coating@1064nm) | <5×10-5 | 1.0-1.5°1°@1064nm | 6.0 | 15.0 | 14.0 |
| | 8.0 | 25.4 | 18.0 |
| | 10.0 | 25.4 | 18.0 |
| | 15.0 | 30.0 | 20.0 |
| | 20.0 | 38.0 | 25.0 |
Rochon Polarizers
