Optical glass 350 - 2000 nm N-BK7 Corner Cube Retroreflectors

These unmounted retroreflectors are trihedral prisms manufactured from a solid piece of N-BK7 glass. We offer uncoated retroreflectors as well as versions with antireflection (AR) coatings in one of three ranges: 350 - 700 nm, 650 - 1050 nm, or 1050 - 1700 nm. They have uncoated reflective faces and rely on total internal reflection (TIR); we also offer backside-coated retroreflectors which employ second surface specular reflections which minimize changes in polarization to <10° with minimal introduced ellipticity. Commonly referred to as corner cubes, the prisms sold here are available in four different sizes (Ø10.0 mm, Ø12.7 mm, Ø25.4 mm, and Ø50.0 mm). They are often used with translation stages to create optical delay lines.

Retroreflector Prisms
Retroreflectors reflect an image or beam back toward its original direction via three reflections. The beam or image will be inverted and reflected through 180° even if the angle of incidence is not zero. The insensitivity of the alignment of these prisms make them ideal retroreflecting optics. For these retroreflecting prisms, the incident and reflected beams will be parallel to within 3 arcsec. However, unless the incident and reflected beams strike the exact center of the optic, they will not overlap but rather be shifted with respect to each other. For example, if the incident beam strikes the optic 3 mm to the right of center, the retroreflected beam will emerge 3 mm to the left of center. The prisms are able to retroreflect beams as large as the maximum beam diameter listed in the tables below.

Additionally, the retroreflected beam will experience a change in its polarization state when propagated through a solid retroreflector. See the Lab Facts tab for more information. Note that this effect is minimized by retroreflectors with gold-coated reflective surfaces.

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