Schematic representation of a beam splitter cube

A beam splitter is an optical device that splits a beam of light in two. An optical instrument either processes Light waves to enhance an image for viewing or analyzes light waves (or Photons to determine one of a number of characteristic Light, or visible light, is Electromagnetic radiation of a Wavelength that is visible to the Human eye (about 400–700 It is the crucial part of most interferometers. Interferometry is the technique of using the pattern of Interference created by the superposition of two or more Waves to diagnose the properties of

In its most common form, a cube, it is made from two triangular glass prisms which are glued together at their base using Canada balsam. In Optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat polished surfaces that refract Light. Canada balsam, also called Canada turpentine or balsam of fir, is a Turpentine which is made from the Resin of the balsam fir tree The thickness of the resin layer is adjusted such that (for a certain wavelength) half of the light incident through one "port" (i. In Physics wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a propagating Wave of a given Frequency. e. face of the cube) is reflected and the other half is transmitted. Reflection is the change in direction of a Wave front at an interface between two different media so that the wave front returns into the medium from which Polarizing beam splitters, such as the Wollaston prism, use birefringent materials, splitting light into beams of differing polarization. A polarizer is a device that converts an unpolarized or mixed- Polarization beam of Electromagnetic waves (e Birefringence, or double refraction, is the decomposition of a ray of Light into two rays (the ordinary ray and the extraordinary ray Polarization ( ''Brit'' polarisation) is a property of Waves that describes the orientation of their oscillations

Another design is the use of a half-silvered mirror. A mirror is an object with a surface that has good Specular reflection; that is it is smooth enough to form an Image. This is a plate of glass with a thin coating of aluminum (usually deposited from aluminum vapor) with the thickness of the aluminum coating such that, of light incident at a 45 degree angle, one half is transmitted and one half is reflected. Glass in the common sense refers to a Hard, Brittle, transparent Solid, such as that used for Windows many Coating is a Covering that is applied to an object The aim of applying coatings is to improve surface properties of a bulk material usually referred to as a substrate WikipediaNaming A vapor or vapour (see Spelling differences) is a substance in the Gas phase at a Temperature lower than its Critical temperature Instead of a metallic coating, a dielectric optical coating may be used. A dielectric is a nonconducting substance ie an insulator. The term was coined by William Whewell in response to a request from Michael Faraday. An optical coating is a thin layer of material deposited on an optical component such as a lens or Mirror, which alters the way in which the optic Such mirrors are commonly used as output couplers in laser construction. An output coupler ( OC) is a partially reflective Mirror used in Lasers to extract a portion of the laser beam from the Optical resonator. A laser is constructed from three principal parts An energy source (usually referred to as the pump or pump source) A Similarly, a very thin pellicle film may also be used as a beam splitter. A pellicle mirror is a semi-transparent mirror used in a Single-lens reflex camera: some of the light is reflected through the pentaprism towards the viewfinder while

A third version of the beam splitter is a dichroic mirrored prism assembly which uses dichroic optical coatings to split the incoming light into three beams, one each of red, green, and blue. A dichroic prism is a prism that splits Light into two beams of differing Wavelength ( Colour) Dichroic redirects here For the filter see Dichroic filter. For the glass see Dichroic glass. An optical coating is a thin layer of material deposited on an optical component such as a lens or Mirror, which alters the way in which the optic Such a device was used in multi-tube color television cameras and also in the three-film Technicolor movie cameras. A professional Video camera (often called a television camera even though the use has spread is a high-end device for recording electronic moving images (as opposed Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation It is also used in the 3 LCD projectors to separate colors and in ellipsoidal reflector spotlights to eliminate heat radiation. Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight (abbreviated to ERS, or colloquially ellipsoidal) is the name for a type of Stage lighting instrument, named for the

Beam splitters are also used in stereo photography to shoot stereo photos using a single shot with a non-stereo camera. Stereoscopy, stereoscopic imaging or 3-D (three-dimensional imaging is any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual The device attaches in place of the lens of the camera. A photographic lens (also known as objective lens or photographic objective) is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with Some argue that "image splitter" is a more proper name for this device. [1]

Beam splitters with single mode fiber for PON networks use the single mode behavior to split the beam. A passive optical network ( PON) is a Point-to-multipoint, Fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered Optical splitters The splitter is done by physically splicing two fibers "together" as an X.