title: Symmetrically coated pellicle beam splitters for dual quarter-wave retardation in reflection and transmission.
abstract: A trilayer pellicle that consists of a high-index center layer that is symmetrically coated on both sides by a low-index film can be designed to produce differential reflection and transmission phase shifts of +/- 90 degrees at oblique incidence and equal throughput for the p and the s polarizations. Such a device splits a beam of incident linearly polarized light into two orthogonal circularly polarized components that travel in well-separated angular directions. Examples of infrared dual quarter-wave retarders that use a symmetrically coated Ge pellicle at 77 degrees angle of incidence are presented. A 50-50% splitter requires a symmetric pellicle with at least five layers. Error analysis shows that the thicknesses of the high-index layers must be tightly controlled. These circular polarization beam splitters are intended for operation with a well-collimated light source and can be used as the basis of a novel circular polarization Michelson interferometer.
authors.affiliation: University of New Orleans, Department of Electrical Engineering, Lakefront, Louisiana 70148, USA. razzam@uno.edu
authors.forename: Rasheed M A
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Azzam
authors.forename: Fadi A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Mahmoud