Optics and Optical Coatings


Polarizing plate beamsplitters are plates that have a polarizing coating. These transmit p-polarization and reflect s-polarization because the incoming monochromatic beam is at the Brewster angle.
These Polarizing beamsplitters consist of two right angle prisms. One of them is coated with dielectric multi-layer polarizing coating on the hypotenuse face.
Polarizing beamsplitters split a monochromatic beam entering at zero degree into p-polarization as transmitted and s-polarization as reflected radiation.
λ/4-retarders convert linearly polarized beams to circular and circular to linear. λ/2-retarders convert polarization direction arbitrarily.