Patent · US Expired

Wollaston prism and use of it in a fourier-transform spectrometer

US6222627A · kind A · utility

16Cited by

3References

9Claims

0Family size

Assignee

CSEM CENTRE SUISSE D'ELECTRONIQUE ET DE MICROTECHNIQUE SA—RECHERCHE ET DÉVELOPPEMENT · CH

Inventors

Peter Seitz · Munich, DE
Martin Stalder · Oberwil, CH

Key dates

Filing date	Feb 24, 1999
Grant date	Apr 24, 2001
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Feb 24, 2019

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG02B27/283
WIPO fieldMeasurement
WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The present invention is related to a Wollaston prism (WP) comprising two birefringent wedges (W1, W2) joined by their hypotenuse to form a composite block, said wedges having optic axes (OA1, OA2) to each other at right angle. According to the invention, the optic axes (OA1, OA2) of said wedges (W1, W2) are rotated by an angle of 45.degree. or 135.degree., respectively, with regard to a position wherein one of the optic axes (OA1, OA2) lies parallel to the plane formed by the hypotenuse. In an embodiment of the present invention, liquid crystal is used as material for the wedges (W1, W2) resulting in inexpensive and easy to handle Wollaston prisms.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.