Method for the measurement of retardation of wave plates based on laser frequency-splitting technology

Yi Zhang; Shulian Zhang; Yanmei Han; Yan Li; Xiaonan Xu

doi:10.1117/1.1371287

1 June 2001 Method for the measurement of retardation of wave plates based on laser frequency-splitting technology

Yi Zhang, Shulian Zhang, Yanmei Han, Yan Li, Xiaonan Xu

Optical Engineering, Vol. 40, Issue 6, (June 2001). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.1371287

A method with high precision for measurement of optical retardation angles of wave plates is presented, based on laser birefringent longitudinal-mode-splitting technology. When a wave plate is placed in the laser cavity, a laser longitudinal mode will be split into two modes because of the birefringence of the wave plate. The optical retardation angle of the wave plate is proportional to the ratio of the frequency difference between the two modes to the laser longitudinal-mode interval. The retardation angle can be determined by measuring these two frequencies. The method uses a compact setup and attains high resolution and accuracy. The error is less than 8 arcmin. The paper discusses a crystal quarter-wave plate at 632.8-nm wavelength as an example, but the method is suited for other laser wavelengths and wave plates.

©(2001) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

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Yi Zhang, Shulian Zhang, Yanmei Han, Yan Li, and Xiaonan Xu "Method for the measurement of retardation of wave plates based on laser frequency-splitting technology," Optical Engineering 40(6), (1 June 2001). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.1371287

Published: 1 June 2001

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