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Glan–Foucault Prism
A Glan–Foucault prism (also called a Glan–air prism) is a type of prism which is used as a polarizer. It is similar in construction to a Glan–Thompson prism, except that two right-angled calcite prisms are spaced with an air gap instead of being cemented together. Total internal reflection of ''p''- polarized light at the air gap means that only ''s''-polarized light is transmitted straight through the prism. Design Compared to the Glan–Thompson prism, the Glan–Foucault has a narrower acceptance angle over which it works, but because it uses an air gap rather than cement, much higher irradiances can be used without damage. The prism can thus be used with laser beams. The prism is also shorter (for a given usable aperture) than the Glan–Thompson design, and the deflection angle of the rejected beam can be made close to 90°, which is sometimes useful. Glan–Foucault prisms are not typically used as polarizing beamsplitters because while the transmitted beam is complete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prism (optics)
An optical prism is a transparent optics, optical element with flat, polished surfaces that are designed to refraction, refract light. At least one surface must be angled — elements with two parallel surfaces are ''not'' prisms. The most familiar type of optical prism is the triangular prism, which has a triangular base and rectangular sides. Not all optical prisms are prism (geometry), geometric prisms, and not all geometric prisms would count as an optical prism. Prisms can be made from any material that is transparent to the wavelengths for which they are designed. Typical materials include glass, acrylic glass, acrylic and fluorite#Optics, fluorite. A dispersive prism can be used to break white#White light, white light up into its constituent spectral colors (the colors of the rainbow) as described in the following section. Other types of prisms noted below can be used to reflection (physics), reflect light, or to split light into components with different polarization (w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polarizer
A polarizer or polariser is an optical filter that lets light waves of a specific polarization pass through while blocking light waves of other polarizations. It can filter a beam of light of undefined or mixed polarization into a beam of well-defined polarization, that is polarized light. The common types of polarizers are linear polarizers and circular polarizers. Polarizers are used in many optical techniques and instruments, and polarizing filters find applications in photography and LCD technology. Polarizers can also be made for other types of electromagnetic waves besides visible light, such as radio waves, microwaves, and X-rays. Linear polarizers ''Linear polarizers'' can be divided into two general categories: absorptive polarizers, where the unwanted polarization states are absorbed by the device, and beam-splitting polarizers, where the unpolarized beam is split into two beams with opposite polarization states. Polarizers which maintain the same axes of polar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glan–Thompson Prism
A Glan–Thompson prism is a type of polarizing prism similar to the Nicol and Glan–Foucault prisms. Design A Glan–Thompson prism consists of two right-angled calcite prisms that are cemented together by their long faces. The optical axes of the calcite crystals are parallel and aligned perpendicular to the plane of reflection. Birefringence splits light entering the prism into two rays, experiencing different refractive indices; the ''p''-polarized ordinary ray is totally internally reflected from the calcite–cement interface, leaving the ''s''-polarized extraordinary ray to be transmitted. The prism can therefore be used as a polarizing beam splitter. Traditionally Canada balsam was used as the cement in assembling these prisms, but this has largely been replaced by synthetic polymers. Characteristics Compared to the similar Glan–Foucault prism, the Glan–Thompson has a wider acceptance angle, but a much lower limit of maximal irradiance (due to optical damage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on Scratch hardness, scratch hardness comparison. Large calcite crystals are used in optical equipment, and limestone composed mostly of calcite has numerous uses. Other polymorphs of calcium carbonate are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite over timescales of days or less at temperatures exceeding 300 °C, and vaterite is even less stable. Etymology Calcite is derived from the German ''Calcit'', a term from the 19th century that came from the Latin word for Lime (material), lime, ''calx'' (genitive calcis) with the suffix "-ite" used to name minerals. It is thus etymologically related to chalk. When applied by archaeology, archaeologists and stone trade pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes reference and trade publications for the medical, business, and engineering professions. McGraw Hill operates in 28 countries, has about 4,000 employees globally, and offers products and services to about 140 countries in about 60 languages. Formerly a division of The McGraw Hill Companies (later renamed McGraw Hill Financial, now S&P Global), McGraw Hill Education was divested and acquired by Apollo Global Management in March 2013 for $2.4 billion in cash. McGraw Hill was sold in 2021 to Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion. Corporate History McGraw Hill was founded in 1888 when James H. McGraw, co-founder of the company, purchased the ''American Journal of Railway Appliances''. He continued to add further publications, eventually establishing The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Total Internal Reflection
Total internal reflection (TIR) is the optical phenomenon in which waves arriving at the interface (boundary) from one medium to another (e.g., from water to air) are not refracted into the second ("external") medium, but completely reflected back into the first ("internal") medium. It occurs when the second medium has a higher wave speed (i.e., lower refractive index) than the first, and the waves are incident at a sufficiently oblique angle on the interface. For example, the water-to-air surface in a typical fish tank, when viewed obliquely from below, reflects the underwater scene like a mirror with no loss of brightness (Fig.1). TIR occurs not only with electromagnetic waves such as light and microwaves, but also with other types of waves, including sound and water waves. If the waves are capable of forming a narrow beam (Fig.2), the reflection tends to be described in terms of "rays" rather than waves; in a medium whose properties are independent of direction, such as air, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polarization (waves)
Polarization (also polarisation) is a property applying to transverse waves that specifies the geometrical orientation of the oscillations. In a transverse wave, the direction of the oscillation is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the wave. A simple example of a polarized transverse wave is vibrations traveling along a taut string ''(see image)''; for example, in a musical instrument like a guitar string. Depending on how the string is plucked, the vibrations can be in a vertical direction, horizontal direction, or at any angle perpendicular to the string. In contrast, in longitudinal waves, such as sound waves in a liquid or gas, the displacement of the particles in the oscillation is always in the direction of propagation, so these waves do not exhibit polarization. Transverse waves that exhibit polarization include electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves, gravitational waves, and transverse sound waves (shear waves) in solids. An electromagnetic wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irradiance
In radiometry, irradiance is the radiant flux ''received'' by a ''surface'' per unit area. The SI unit of irradiance is the watt per square metre (W⋅m−2). The CGS unit erg per square centimetre per second (erg⋅cm−2⋅s−1) is often used in astronomy. Irradiance is often called intensity, but this term is avoided in radiometry where such usage leads to confusion with radiant intensity. In astrophysics, irradiance is called ''radiant flux''. Spectral irradiance is the irradiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. The two forms have different dimensions and units: spectral irradiance of a frequency spectrum is measured in watts per square metre per hertz (W⋅m−2⋅Hz−1), while spectral irradiance of a wavelength spectrum is measured in watts per square metre per metre (W⋅m−3), or more commonly watts per square metre per nanometre (W⋅m−2⋅nm−1). Mathematical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow. A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light which is ''coherent''. Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused to a tight spot, enabling applications such as laser cutting and lithography. Spatial coherence also allows a laser beam to stay narrow over great distances (collimation), enabling applications such as laser pointers and lidar (light detection and ranging). Lasers can also have high temporal coherence, which allows them to emit light with a very narrow spectrum. Alternatively, temporal coherence can be used to produce ultrashort pulses of ligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glan–Taylor Prism
A Glan–Taylor prism is a type of prism (optics), prism which is used as a polarizer or Polarization (waves), polarizing beam splitter. It is one of the most common types of modern polarizing prism. It was first described by Archard and Taylor in 1948. The prism is made of two right-angled prisms of calcite (or sometimes other birefringence, birefringent materials) separated on their long faces with an air gap. The optical axes of the calcite crystals are aligned parallel to the plane of reflection. Total internal reflection of ''s''-polarized light at the air gap ensures that only ''p''-polarized light is transmitted by the device. Because the angle of incidence at the gap can be reasonably close to Brewster's angle, unwanted reflection of ''p''-polarized light is reduced, giving the Glan–Taylor prism better transmission than the Glan–Foucault prism, Glan–Foucault design. Note that while the transmitted beam is completely polarized, the reflected beam is not. The sides of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yttrium Orthovanadate
Yttrium orthovanadate (YVO4) is a transparent crystal. Undoped YVO4 is also used to make efficient high-power polarizing prisms similar to Glan–Taylor prisms. There are two principal applications for doped Yttrium orthovanadate: *Doped with neodymium it forms Nd:YVO4, an active laser medium used in diode-pumped solid-state lasers. *Doped with europium it forms Eu:YVO4, the dominant red phosphor used in cathode ray tubes especially in color TVs. Basic properties *Crystal structure: **Zircon tetragonal ( tetragonal bipyramidal) ** Space group D4h ** Lattice parameters ''a'' = ''b'' = 7.119 Å, ''c'' = 6.290 Å *Density: 4.24 g/cm3 *Melting point: 1810–1940 °C *Mohs hardness: glass-like, ~5 *Knoop hardness: 480 kg/mm2 *Thermal expansion coefficient: ** αa = 4.43×10−6/ K ** αc = 11.37×10−6/K *Thermal conductivity coefficient: **parallel to ''c''-axis: 5.23 W·m−1·K−1 **perpendicular to ''c''-axis: 5.10 W·m−1·K−1 *Refractive indices, birefri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
