Polarizers

Precision Linear Polarizers

We manufacture Precision Linear Polarizers using dichroic sheet polarizer material laminated between high quality glass substrates. For visible wavelength polarizers, this construction produces a peak-to-valley transmitted wavefront distortion of less than λ/5. Various polarizer materials are used to cover wavelengths within 320 and 2000 nm. Both visible and near infrared polarizers are supplied with a high-efficiency, broadband antireflection (AR) coating; single-layer AR coatings are optional on our ultraviolet polarizers. Both mounted and unmounted Precision Linear Polarizers are offered as standard products. To facilitate use, our Precision Linear Polarizers have the transmission axis marked on the part.

Features:

• High extinction ratios
• Excellent surface quality
• Wide angular acceptance
• Low transmitted wavefront distortion
• Ultraviolet, visible, near infrared wavelengths

Technical specifications:

* Custom AR coatings are available on all polarizers. For NIR2 polarizers, please choose from the following AR coating options: NIR2 – 1 covers 650 – 950 nm; NIR2 – 2 covers 900 – 1250 nm; NIR2 – 3 covers 1200 – 1700 nm

High Contrast Linear Polarizer

In response to the need for improved contrast in the near infrared region, Sintec Optronics now offers a line of High Contrast Linear Polarizers. These polarizers are constructed by laminating Polarcor™ dichroic glass polarizers between high quality glass substrates to achieve superior wavefront performance and surface quality. Sintec Optronics High Contrast Linear Polarizers offer the performance of calcite polarizers in large apertures. Contrast ratios are available as high as 10,000:1. Custom wavelength ranges from 630 to 1580 nm with 60 to 80 nm bandpasses and sizes from 10 to 25 mm are available.

Features:

• High Contrast
• High Transmission
• Absorptive Dichroic Glass

Typical transmission for a High Contrast Linear Polarizer centered at 800 nm. Extinction ratio is measured a Glan-Thompson polarizer

Technical specifications:

Ultra-High Contrast Linear Polarizer

Our UHPUV series polarizers offer high contrast in the UV from 360 to 400 nm and our UHP-LNIR series polarizers offer high contrast over the exceptionally broad range from 650 to 5000 nm.

Features:

• Extremely high contrast, greater than 10,000,000:1
• Unlaminated part usable to 400° C
• Wavelength ranges within 340 to 5000 nm
• Absorptive dichroic glass

Technical specifications:

Glan-Thompson Polarizer

By precisely controlling internal prism angles in these calcite polarizers, a very efficient linear polarizer is produced. Sintec Optronics offers Glan-Thompson Polarizers, intended for precision optical instrumentation and low power laser applications. Key advantages of Glan-Thompson Polarizers include excellent extinction ratio performance and a broad sp ectral range. Our Glan-Thompson Polarizers are supplied in a black anodized cylindrical housing for easy mounting.

Features:

• Broad spectral range
• Excellent extinction ratio

Technical specifications:

Ultra Broadband Polarizer

Sintec Optronics provides an extremely broadband polarizer solution. Manufactured for a wavelength range of 300 to 2700 nm rivaling the span of a Glan-Thompson calcite polarizer, this optic is ideal for broadband applications. The proprietary composition of the Ultra Broadband Polarizer allows for an unprecedented width of spectral range at a fraction of the cost of other competing polarizers. This cost savings is coupled with a thickness of only 0.182” including mount and solid contrast ratio through the entire range from UV to IR.

Features:

• Extremely broadband
• Wide acceptance angle
• Custom sizes and shapes
• Excellent transmitted contrast
• Thin, compact design

Technical specifications:

Typical measured contrast and transmission over relevant wavelength range

MWIR Polarizer

This polarizer is a wire grid on an antireflection coated silicon substrate optimized for 3 to 6 microns. The ring mounting provides for ease of handling and has the polarization transmission direction marked. The wire grid surface is quite delicate and should only be cleaned non-mechanically. Standard outer diameters are one and two inch but custom sizes, shapes and unmounted polarizers are also available.

Features:

• Excellent contrast ratio
• Thin profile
• High transmission
• Custom apertures > 2 inches available

Technical specifications:

• Custom wavelengths are available between 420-3000 nm.

Typical measured contrast and transmission over relevant wavelength range

Deep Ultraviolet Polarizer

Developed for wavelengths between 245 and 285 nm, this polarizer is ideal for applications around 266 nm. Additionally, this polarizer is transparent in the visible range, allowing visible light to easily pass through. The UV Polarizer has a proprietary structure that allows for a high laser damage threshold. Custom shapes and sizes are possible due to the large manufactured substrates.

Features:

• Works between 245 to 285 nm
• Wire grid polarizer
• High damage threshold
• Transmission of > 60%
• Contrast ratio of up to 50:1

Technical specifications:

Typical measured contrast and transmission over relevant wavelength range

Wire Grid Versalight™ Polarizer

VersaLight™ is constructed of a thin layer of aluminum MicroWires® on a glass substrate and sets a new standard for applications requiring high durability, contrast and a wide field of view for visible through infrared wavelengths. VersaLight™ offers the performance quality of dichroic sheet polarizers while extending the operating temperature to 200° C. The nature of VersaLight’s MicroWire construction allows it to perform as an exceptional polarizing beam splitter. In operation, VersaLight™ reflects one polarization state and transmits another, both with high contrast. VersaLight™ offers the broadest band and highest field of view of any polarizer material presently available. VersaLight™ can be shaped as needed and stacked to achieve very high contrast ratios. Large aperture VersaLight™ Polarizers are available on a custom basis, up to 200m rounds.

Features:

• Broadband use
• Reflective polarizer
• Large acceptance angle

Technical specifications:

* On ultraviolet Versalight, the wire grid surface will be unprotected, fragile and cannot be touched. UV VersaLight is optimized for 300-450 nm; NIR VersaLight is optimized for 450-1000 nm; IR VersaLight is optimized for 1000-2000 nm.

Wire Grid Polarizing Beam Splitter

Sintec Optronics presents its Versalight wire grid polarizing beam splitters. Manufactured for wavelength ranges between 420 and 2600 nm, this polarizer is ideal for broadband and wide field-of-view applications. Wire grid polarizing beam splitters are manufactured out of our Versalight wire grid polarizer sandwiched between right angle prisms. No AR coatings are standard for maximum wavelength usage. Broadband AR coatings are available on the faces of the cube covering either visible (450 to 1100 nm) or IR (1000 to 2400 nm.)

Features:

• Broadband wavelength range, 420-2600 nm
• Wide acceptance angle
• Custom sizes and shapes
• Excellent transmitted contrast

Technical specifications:

Ice Cube - Wire Grid Polarizing Beam Splitter

KEY FEATURES

• Wide angle of incidence range
• Uniformity over wide range of angles
• High contrast and transmission over wide range of angles

This polarizing beam splitter (PBS) cube is optimized for use over a wide range of acceptance angles while maintaining color uniformity and image contrast in the visible wavelength ranges. The ICE Cube allows compact optical designs with reduced optical paths. Engineers are now able to design smaller systems while maintaining excellent optical performance. The ICE Cube polarizer performance exceeds that for the commonly used thin film MacNeille cubes in both acceptable wavelength range and angle of incidence range while providing more than twice the contrast ratio in the transmitted beam for most wavelengths.

The ICE Cube is assembled by embedding our polarizing beam splitter plate between two AR coated glass prisms. These cubes are designed with Nanowire® grid structures centered on the hypotenuse of the ICE Cube. The ICE Cube PBS separates natural light into two main orthogonal, linearly polarized components; the p-polarized light which is transmitted while the s-polarized light is reflected at a 90 degree angle. In principle, half of the incident light is reflected, and the other half is transmitted.

Many options, including custom wavelengths and sizes are available.

Ordering Information:

Part number: STBV-100-ICE (unmounted, dimension 1x1x1in, clear aperture 0.90in)

Laser Line Beamsplitting Polarizer

Right-angle prisms are matched in pairs to produce high quality laser line beamsplitting polarizers with superior wavefront quality in both transmission and reflection. The hypotenuse face of one prism is coated with a multilayer dielectric beamsplitting coating optimized for laser performance. Two prisms are cemented together, protecting the critical coating from performance-degrading environmental factors. Each cube separates an unpolarized incident beam into two orthogonal, linearly polarized components with negligible absorption. Following the principle of pile-of-plates polarizers, p-polarized light is transmitted with approximatley 1000:1 contrast and s-polarization is reflected with approximatley 20:1 contrast. These polarizers perform best with collimated or near-collimated light.

Features:

• High contrast
• Low reflectance
• Low transmitted wavefront distortion

Technical specifications:

Broadband Beamsplitting Polarizer

For applications involving broadband or tunable wavelength sources, Sintec Optronics presents a line of Broadband Beamsplitting Polarizers covering the visible to near infrared region. These cubes offer increased utility for a range of polarization needs. As with the Laser Line Beamsplitting Polarizers, two usable polarization forms result, conveniently separated by 90°. For unpolarized input, incident light will be equally split, 50% transmitted and reflected. Varying the input polarization axis will change the split ratio. These broadband designs require well-collimated input and accurate angular alignment for optimal performance. All four entrance and exit faces are antireflection coated to minimize losses.

Features:

• High contrast
• Low reflectance
• Broad spectral range
• High damage threshold

Technical specifications:

Dichroic Circular Polarizer

Dichroic Circular Polarizers consist of a dichroic linear polarizer and true zero-order quarterwave retarder. Precisely aligning the retarder fast axis at 45° to the linear polarization direction ensures optimum performance. True zero-order retarders are used in the assembly of our Dichroic Circular Polarizers and tight retardance tolerances contribute to the final performance.

Features:

• High isolation
• Large diameters available
• Low transmitted wavefront distortion

Technical specifications:

Thin Film Polarizers

Description

High Contrast Thin Film Polarizers (TFP) are made using advanced Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) coating technology. These thin film polarizers separate s- and p-polarization components of high energy laser beams. Due to very low losses they are perfect for intra and extra cavity usage. Because of their high damage threshold and extinction ratio (>1000:1), thin film polarizers are a good replacement for Glan laser polarizing prisms or polarizing cube beam splitters. For optimal performance, polarizers should be mounted in an appropriate holder allowing angular adjustment. We offer two types of high contrast polarizers: with higher LIDT or higher contrast values.

Features

• High Tp, low absorption & scattering
• No aging effects due to negligible porosity of the coatings
• Transmitted wavefront distortion (TWD), P-V: <λ/10 @ 632.8 nm
• Laser damage threshold up to 20 J/cm2 @ 532 nm, 10 ns, 10 Hz (s-pol)

* Customized solutions are available on request. Typical dimensions are Ø25.4 x 5 mm, 20 x 40 x 5 mm and 10 x 20 x 5 mm.

Polarizing Cubes for High Energy Applications

Description

Polarizing beamsplitter cubes offer several advantages over plate beamsplitters. They are easy to handle, high contrast and high extinction ratio polarizers that split a randomly polarized beam into two orthogonal linearly polarized components. These products are typically used in laser beam separation, combination and optical-isolation applications. The epoxy-free construction of the cubes enables a superior performance at high energy levels.

Features

• Easy, deformation-free mounting
• High extinction ratio in transmission: Tp/Ts >1000:1
• Low reflected and transmitted wavefront distortion, P-V: <λ/10 @ 632.8nm
• No ghost reflections
• Minimal beam displacement
• Negligible absorption of reflected and transmitted beams
• High transmission of p-polarization: Tp > 97%
• No material fluorescence in UV region
• Laser damage threshold up to 20 J/cm2 @ 1064nm, 10ns, 100Hz

• Customized solutions are available on request.

ST Series Polarizers and Depolarisers

1. Glan Taylor Polarizer

Glan Taylor polarizer is made of two birefringent prisms that are assembled with an air space. The polarizer with no side escape windows is suitable for low to medium power application where the side rejected beams are not required.

• Air-spaced
• Close to Brewster's angle cutting
• High polarization purity
• Short length
• Wide wavelength range
• Suitable for low to medium power application

1.1 a-BBO Glan Taylor Polarizer

1.2 Calcite Glan Taylor Polarizer

1.3 YVO4 Glan Taylor Polarize

2. Glan Laser Polarizer

Glan laser prism polarizer is made of two same birefringent material prisms that are assembled with an air space. The polarizer is a modification of the Glan Taylor type and is designed to have less reflection loss at the prism junction. The polarizer with two escape windows allow the rejected beam to escape out of the polarizer, which makes it more desirable for high energy lasers. The surface quality of these faces is relatively poor as compared to that of entrance and exit faces. No scratch dig surface quality specifications are assigned to these faces.

• Air-spaced
• Close to Brewster's angle cutting
• High polarization purity
• Short length
• Wide wavelength range
• Suitable for medium power application

2.1 a-BBO Glan Laser Polarizer

2.2 Calcite Glan Laser Polarizer

2.3 YVO4 Glan Laser Polarizer

3. Glan Thompson Polarizer

Glan Thompson polarizer beamsplitter cube is made of two calcite prisms cemented together. It has been arranged to permit the output of the s-polarized beam at 45° from the straight through p-polarized beam. They provide high polarization purity and high transmission in the two emerging beams. These are useful if it is required to utilize both linear polarization states. They are mounted in a rectangular metal cell and surrounded with an absorbing compound.

• Widest field angle
• Cemented, suitable for low power application
• High polarization purity

3.2 Calcite Glan Thompson Polarizer (350-2300nm)

3.3 a-BBO Glan Thompson Polarizer (200-1100nm)

4. Wollaston Polarizers

Wollaston polarizer is made of two birefringent material prisms that are cemented together. The deviations of the ordinary and extraordinary beams are nearly symmetrical about the input beam axis, so that the Wollaston polarizing beam splitter has approximately twice the deviation of the Rochon. The separation angle exhibits chromatic dispersion, as shown in the blow. Any separation angle can be designed upon the requirement.

4.1 aa-BBO Wollaston Polarizer

4.2 Calcite Wollaston Polarizer

4.3 YVO4 Wollaston Polarizer

4.4 Quartz Wollaston Polarizer

5. Rochon Polarizers

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.

5.1 a-BBO Rochon Polarizer

5.2 YVO4 Rochon Polarizer

5.3 Quartz Rochon Polarizer

5.4 MgF2 Rochon Polarizer

6. Polarizating Beam Splitter

Polarizing cube beamsplitters split randomly polarized beams into two orthogonally and linearly polarized components, that is S-polarized light is reflected at a 90deg angle while P-polarized light is directly transmitted. Each beamsplitter consists of a pair of precision high tolerance right angle prisms cemented together with a dielectric coating on the hypotenuse of one of prisms.

Narrowband:

High Power STH-PBS:

7. Depolarizer

Plane polarized beam is not welcomed in some circumstances such as reflecting spectrometer. A depolarizer will change the plane polarization into a mix of polarization states by scrambling up the polarization which is to change plane polarized beam into pseudo-depolarized beam and produce depolarization. Depolarizer is widely used in polarization sensitive instrument.

The usual depolarizer can only be used at narrow band wavelength to avoid the big beam deviation. With our special design, our depolarizer can be used in a wide range of wavelength and keep the beam deviation in a acceptable range.

Usually we can get better result if we orient the input polarization state 45deg to the optical axis of the depolarizer. And also the effectiveness of the depolarizer increases with the size of the beam cross-section