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US 4,733,926 AGranted
Infrared polarizing beamsplitter
AssigneeLockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
InventorAlan Title
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AssigneeLockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
InventorAlan Title
Estimating the term…
A polarizing cube beamsplitter, which is designed for infrared applications, comprises two 45.degree. prisms made of ZnSe. A first anti-reflection layer, which is a Herpin equivalent layer consisting of the triad of sublayers ZnS-ZnSe-Zns, is deposited onto the hypotenuse of a first one of the prisms. Then, a polarizing stack consisting of a plurality of pairs of thin-film layers of alternating high and low refractive indices is formed on the first anti-reflection layer. One layer in each pair of thin-film layers in the polarizing stack is a Herpin equivalent layer consisting of the triad of sub-layers Te-ZnSe-Te, and the other layer in each pair is a thin film of ZnSe. A layer of prism material ZnSe, which is thick enough to be optically polished, is then formed on the second anti-reflection layer. The hypotenuse of the second prism is likewise optically polished, and is pressed onto the optically polished layer of prism material to form a bond. The resulting beamsplitter is of cubic configuration.
A method of fabricating a polarizing beamsplitter for separating s and p components of an infrared beam, said method comprising the steps of:
A polarizing beamsplitter for separating s and p components of an infrared beam, said beamsplitter being fabricated by the steps of:
A polarizing beamsplitter for separating s and p components of an infrared beam, said beamsplitter comprising a first prism, a coating on a surface of said first prism, and a second prism, a surface of said second prism being bonded to said coating, said first and second prisms being made of the same material, said coating comprising a plurality of thin-film layers, each of said thin-film layers being made of one of only three different materials, one of said three different coating materials being the same material from which said first and second prisms are made.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.