Dichroic polarizers are optical filters designed to polarize electromagnetic radiation through anisotropic absorption. These beamsplitters transmit only light with the desired polarization states while absorbing the rest.
Dichroic Polarizers
- High-Quality Manufacturing: Avantier specializes in manufacturing dichroic plate beamsplitters using a special design and proprietary manufacturing approach. This approach results in steep edges and flat, high reflection and transmission bands.
- Reduced Stray Light: The almost complete transmission and reflection provided by these dichroic polarizers minimize stray light in imaging systems. This leads to high-contrast images and an excellent signal-to-noise ratio compared to other polarizers.
- Materials and Coating: Avantier’s dichroic polarizers are made from UV grade fused silica, JGS1, or JGS2 substrates, and they are coated with a hard dielectric coating. These glass polarizers have a higher damage threshold than plastic counterparts, making them suitable for precision applications. The coatings meet MIL-STD-810F and MIL-C-484971 requirements.
- Customization: Avantier offers a variety of options to meet different wavelength ranges, making their dichroic polarizers adaptable to specific applications.
- Applications: Dichroic polarizers find applications in various fields, including genomics, proteomics, and fluorescence microscopy. They are useful whenever beam combination, beam separation, or multispectral detection is required. They can also be used as bandpass filters for covering multiple colors and can be combined with shortpass filters to create custom narrow bandpass filters.
Dichroic Polarizers
Factory Standard
Material | UV Grade Fused Silica, JGS1, JGS2 |
Dimensions | +0.1mm |
Transmitted Wavefront Error | 1 λ RMS @ 633nm |
Surface Quality | 60-40 |
Angle of Incidence | 45° |
Reflection Band | <2% Transmission Average |
Transmission Band | >90% Transmission Average |
Coating | Hard Dielectric, meets MIL-STD-810F and MIL-C-484971 requirements |
Dichroic Polarizers
Circular Polarizers: Circular polarizers are created by combining a quarter-wave plate with a linear dichroic polarizer. This combination converts linearly polarized light into circularly polarized light, which consists of two linear components with a phase difference of π/2. Circular polarizers find applications in imaging, microscopy, and intensity adjustment. They are also used to reduce flare in imaging.
High Contrast Glass Linear Polarizers: High contrast glass linear polarizers are dichroic plate polarizers that offer a high extinction ratio, often up to 10,000:1 for the 400-700 nm wavelength range. They feature anti-reflective coatings to minimize light loss and are suitable for a wide range of industrial and scientific applications.
Polarizing Cube Beamsplitters: Polarizing cube beamsplitters are constructed from two right-angle prisms cemented together to form a cube. One of the cube’s hypotenuses is coated with a dielectric coating, and anti-reflective coatings are typically applied to each square face of the beamsplitter. They are commonly used for splitting or combining polarized light in optical setups.
Birefringent Polarizers: Birefringent polarizers are made from two crystalline prisms that are mounted together. The angle between the prisms can be adjusted depending on the desired application. These polarizers are known for their high damage thresholds and are used in various optical systems.
Glan-Taylor Prism: A Glan-Taylor prism is a type of polarizing beam splitter consisting of two right-angled prisms separated by an air gap along their long face. Incident light enters through a short side and, depending on polarization, either reflects at the air gap (s-polarized) or continues through the prism (p-polarized). Glan-Taylor prisms are chosen for applications requiring high polarization purity, high extinction ratios, or broad spectral ranges, including visible, UV, and NIR applications.
Wire Grid Polarizer: Wire grid polarizers are made from many thin, parallel wires. They transmit only light with a polarization perpendicular to the wires, reflecting all other light. Wire grid polarizers offer good environmental stability and are used in various optical systems.
Avantier produces a wide variety of high quality glass polarizers, carefully tooled to minimize wavefront distortion. Contact us for manufacturing limits or custom specifications.
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