Abstract

There is a need in interferometers and other optical instruments for polarization-independent all-dielectric beam splitters. In the past, two different configurations have been used: parallel plate and cemented cube beam splitters. Commonly the angle of incidence of the light on the beam splitting surface is 45°. An ideal beam splitter would have no losses, its transmittance and reflectance would be equal over an extended spectral region and would be independent of the polarization of the incident light. The device would have a reasonable angular field. In practice, it is difficult to achieve a theoretical solution with the above stated ideal performance and even more difficult to implement it in practice.

© 1998 Optical Society of America