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 versus
Wavelength

a-BBO, 190-3500nm
|

Quartz, 200-3300nm
|
|

YVO4, 400-4000nm
|
|
|
Main 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 |
Wavefront
Distortion |
l/4@633nm |
Damage
Threshold |
>500 MW/cm2 |
Coating |
Single MgF2 |
Mount |
Black Anodized Aluminum |
|
Standard Products
1.
a-BBO
Rochon Polarizer
|
Part No.
|
Extinction Ratio
|
Separation Angle(°)
|
C.A.
fa (mm)
|
O.D.
fd (mm)
|
L±0.1(mm)
|
RCP-6006
|
<5x10-6
|
8.0-14
8°@800nm
|
6.0
|
15.0
|
14.0
|
RCP-6008
|
8.0
|
25.4
|
16.0
|
RCP-6010
|
10.0
|
25.4
|
18.0
|
RCP-6015
|
15.0
|
30.0
|
23.0
|
RCP-6020
|
20.0
|
38.0
|
28.0
|
|
2. Quartz Rochon Polarizer
|
Part No.
|
Extinction Ratio
|
Separation Angle(°)
|
C.A.
fa (mm)
|
O.D.
fd (mm)
|
L±0.1(mm)
|
RCP-9006
|
<4x10-6
|
1.0-1.5
1°@980nm
|
6.0
|
15.0
|
36.0
|
RCP-9008
|
8.0
|
25.4
|
46.0
|
RCP-9010
|
10.0
|
25.4
|
28.0
|
RCP-9015
|
15.0
|
30.0
|
38.0
|
RCP-9020
|
20.0
|
38.0
|
48.0
|
|
3. YVO4 Rochon Polarizer
|
Part No.
|
Extinction Ratio
|
Separation Angle(°)
|
C.A.
fa (mm)
|
O.D.
fd (mm)
|
L±0.1(mm)
|
RCP-8006
|
<5x10-6
|
9.8-13.0
10°@1064nm
|
6.0
|
15.0
|
14.0
|
RCP-8008
|
8.0
|
25.4
|
16.0
|
RCP-8010
|
10.0
|
25.4
|
16.0
|
RCP-8015
|
15.0
|
30.0
|
20.0
|
RCP-8020
|
20.0
|
38.0
|
25.0
|
|
|