Optical element and optical device

An optical element for controlling retardation of linear polarization components in input light orthogonal to each other, the optical element comprising:

• an electro-optic crystal having an isotropic crystal which belongs to a point group m3m of a cubic system and including an input surface to which the input light is input and a rear surface which is a surface on an opposite side of the input surface;
• a first electrode disposed on the input surface;
• and
• a second electrode disposed on the rear surface,
• wherein the input surface is located along at least one axis between axes obtained by rotating two crystal axes about one remaining crystal axis used as a rotation center at a predetermined angle in three crystal axes of the electro-optic crystal, and
• wherein a direction of an electric field to be induced by a voltage applied to a part between the first electrode and the second electrode is set in a propagation direction of the input light inside the electro-optic crystal.