Frequently Asked Questions

A Quarter Waveplate is used to convert linearly polarized beams into circularly polarized beams (and vice versa).

A Quarter Waveplate introduces a 90° rotation of the plane of polarization, while a Half Waveplate rotates the plane of polarization by twice the incident beam's angle to the optic axis.

Applications for Quarter Waveplates include creating circular polarization from linear or linear polarization from circular, ellipsometry, optical pumping, suppressing unwanted reflections (when used in conjunction with a polarizer) and optical isolation (when used with a Polarizing Beamsplitter Cube.).

Ealing Zero Order Waveplates are the preferred type of waveplate. They are not as sensitive to changes in temperature, wavelength, angle of incidence, or collimation.

The phase difference of a waveplate is calculated using the formula θ = ± 2vd (ne-no) λ where θ is the phase difference, d is the thickness of the waveplate in mm, ne and no are the refractive indices of the extraordinary and ordinary rays respectively, and λ is the wavelength in nm.

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