Overview:

A Wollaston prism separates light into two separate linearly polarized outgoing beams with orthogonal polarization. The two beams will be polarized according to the optical axis of the two right angle prisms.

The Wollaston prism consists of two orthogonal prisms of birefringent material—typically a uniaxial material such as Calcite, YVO4 and Crystal Quartz. These prisms are cemented together on their base to form two right triangle prisms with perpendicular optic axes. Outgoing light beams diverge from the prism as ordinary and extraordinary rays due to the differences in the indexes of refraction, with the angle of divergence determined by the prisms' wedge angle and the wavelength of the light. Commercial prisms are available with divergence angles up to 20° and both output beams  are highly polarized with an extinction ratio of >10 000:1 or >100 000:1 in each output.

Wollaston prisms have been used as polarization analyzers as well as in spectrometers.

General Specifications of Wollaston prisms:

Standard Products of Wollaston prisms: