The cross-section of a right angled prism is a right angled triangle. Used to change the direction of light without altering other properties of the light, such as wavelength, polarization state, etc. So what are the functions of a right angle prism?
1、 Transition light path or deflection image
A right angle prism is usually used to bend the optical path or deflect the image formed by the optical system by 90 degrees. Choosing different incident surfaces can cause the optical path to deviate by 90 ° or 180 °, resulting in different imaging reversals. According to the orientation of the prism, the imaging can be left and right consistent and upside down, or left and right inconsistent and top-down consistent.
2、 Combining and beam offset
Right angle prisms can be used for applications such as image combining and beam shifting.
3、 Utilizing critical angle characteristics
A right angled prism utilizes the critical angle characteristic to efficiently reflect all incoming light internally. When light is incident from the right angled plane of a prism, it undergoes total internal reflection on the inclined plane of the prism and exits from another right angled plane, achieving a 90 degree reflection of the beam. When light is incident from the oblique plane of a prism, it undergoes two total reflections on the right angle plane, and finally exits from the oblique plane in a direction parallel to the incident beam, achieving a 180 ° reflection in the optical path.
4、 Application of optical instruments
If the input light is linearly polarized, the vibration direction of the light will be separated inside the right angle prism. This principle allows right angle prisms to be widely applied in these fields.
5、 Convert to lens
By shaping a lens on one surface of a right angle prism, it can be transformed into a lens and used for focusing and dispersing light. According to the shape and refractive index of the lens, a right angle prism can have the function of a positive or negative lens, used to adjust the focal length and imaging of light.
6、 Spectral analysis
A right angle prism can decompose white light into spectra of different wavelengths, used to study the dispersion properties of light. This dispersion effect makes the right angled prism the core component of a spectrometer, widely used in spectral analysis and measurement in fields such as physics, chemistry, and astronomy.
The above are some answers to the functions of right angle prisms, hoping to be helpful to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to consult online or leave a message.
