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Prisms
 Prisms are blocks of optical material with flat
polished sides arranged at precisely controlled angles to each other, which
deflect, deviate and rotate beams of light as well as dispersing their
wavelengths.
There are many types of prism, each having a particular
geometry to achieve the reflections necessary to perform a specific imaging
task. Reflecting prisms may invert, rotate, deviate or displace a beam.
Dispersing prisms produce spectral separation for spectroscopic applications or
for tuning a laser output.
Scitec Instruments offers many kinds of high precision
prisms. Selection of the most suitable prism is primarily dependent on the
application.
|
Prism Type |
Material |
Applications |
|
Penta Prism |
BK7 |
Penta prisms can deviate an incident beam without inverting
or reversing to 90°. The deviation angle of 90° is independent of any
rotation of the prism about an axis parallel to the line of intersection of the
two reflecting faces. It is commonly used in Plumb Levelling, Surveying,
Alignment, Rangefinding and Optical Tooling. |
|
Beamsplitter Penta Prism |
BK7 |
By adding a wedge and partial refractive coating to a prism,
it can be used as a beamsplitter. It is often used in Plumb Levelling,
Surveying, Alignment, Rangefinding and Optical Tooling. |
|
Right Angle Prisms |
BK7 Fused Silica |
A right angled prism deviates or deflects a beam of light by
90° or 180°. They are often used in telescopes, periscopes and other
optical systems. |
|
Dove Prism |
BK7 |
A dove prism has two applications. The main application is
as a rotator. It can rotate an image without deviating the beam. When the prism
is rotated about the input parallel ray through an angle, the image rotates
through twice that angle. Another application is used as a retroreflector. In
this application it performs as a right-angled prism. |
|
Roof Prism |
BK7 |
A roof prism is a combination of a right angled prism and a
totally internally reflecting roof prism, attached by their largest square
surfaces. It inverts and reverses an imag and deflects the image by 90° .
Therefore, it is often used in terrestrial telescopes, viewing systems and
rangefinders. |
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Corner Cube Retroflector |
BK7 |
A corner cube retroflector has three mutually perpendicular
surfaces and a hypotenuse face. Light entering through the hypotenuse is
reflected by each of the three surfaces in turn and will emerge through the
hypotenuse face parallel to the entering beam regardless of the orientation the
incident beam. It is often used in distance measurement, optical signal
processing and laser interferometers. |
|
Anamorphic Prism |
SF11 |
These two prisms can expand or contract the beam in one
direction without any changes in the other direction. By adjusting the angles
among the incident beam and two prisms, the shape of the beam can be changed.
It is very easy to turn an elliptical beam into a circular beam. |
|
Dispersing prisms |
BK7 Fused Silica SF-14 |
Dispersing prisms are used for wavelength separation
applications. A light ray is twice refracted through the prism with a total
deviation of qd. Deviation is a function of refractive index and hence
wavelength. |
|
Wedge Prism |
BK7 Fused Silica |
Wedge prisms have similar functions as optical windows. They
all can be used as isolating components. Wedges may be used to produce a small
deviation, which doesn't allow a return to the source. |
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