Prisms & Retroreflectors

Optical prisms redirect, disperse, rotate or return a beam through controlled refracting and reflecting surfaces. This category covers right-angle prisms for 90-degree and 180-degree path folding, Dove and roof prisms for image orientation, wedge prisms for fine steering, equilateral and Pellin-Broca prisms for dispersion, and corner-cube retroreflectors for return-to-source alignment. Geometry should be chosen from the required optical function rather than from external dimensions alone.

After selecting the prism form, verify material, wavelength, aperture, angular tolerance, surface flatness, surface quality, transmitted or reflected wavefront, chamfer and coating orientation. K9 optical glass is widely used in visible systems, while UV fused silica is preferred for ultraviolet transmission and improved thermal stability. Retroreflector applications must also check return-angle performance, and dispersing-prism applications must account for refractive index and material dispersion at the design wavelength.