Abstract

Polarization-preserving optics is crucial for coherent optical systems and it is also important for investigation on the optical properties of biological tissues, etc. In many circumstances, it is necessary to displace light beam with a preservation of polarization. To displace a light beam, the simplest solution is to use a two-mirror configuration beam displacer. But there is a serious problem in this type of beam displacer, that is, there appears phase difference of s- and p- polarization under total reflection. To achieve the preservation of polarization in displacement, many methods, including special coating treatment on the mirrors have been developed [1]. Since the films coated for preserving polarization are all depend on wavelengths, these mirrors are not workable achromatically. In addition, these mirrors require special preparation and, thus, are inconvenient. Recently, Galvez demonstrated that compensating phase shifting (CPS) [2], i.e., to compensate the phase shift in s- and p-polarization, could be utilized to maintain the polarization state after beam displacement based on a four-prism or four-mirror configuration [3]. Here we extend the CPS principle to the Perro image erector system and show that the Perro’s two-prism configuration can be a good choice for achromatic polarization-preserving beam displacer. A full simulation analysis of tilting tolerance and materials is also presented.

© 2002 Optical Society of America