ROCHON PRISM Meaning and
Definition
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A Rochon prism is an optical device that is primarily used in spectroscopy and polarimetry. It is a type of beam splitter that divides a beam of light into two polarized components with orthogonal polarizations. The prism is composed of two different types of birefringent materials, typically calcite crystals, which have different indices of refraction for different polarizations of light.
The Rochon prism consists of two right angle prisms that are glued together at their hypotenuse faces, forming a parallelepiped-shaped structure. The two prisms are cut and aligned in such a way that the ordinary ray passes straight through both prisms, while the extraordinary ray undergoes total internal reflection at the interface between the prisms.
As the incident light enters the Rochon prism, it gets separated into two beams with perpendicular polarization states. The ordinary ray continues its path undeviated by traversing straight through the prism, while the extraordinary ray undergoes refraction and deviation due to the different refractive indices at the interface between the prisms. This divergence between the ordinary and extraordinary beams is what enables the Rochon prism to act as a polarizing beam splitter.
Rochon prisms are commonly used in various applications such as spectroscopy, where they are used to split incident light into different wavelength components for analysis. They can also be used in polarimeters to study the polarization state of light or in optical devices for beam manipulation and polarization control.
Common Misspellings for ROCHON PRISM
- eochon prism
- dochon prism
- fochon prism
- tochon prism
- 5ochon prism
- 4ochon prism
- richon prism
- rkchon prism
- rlchon prism
- rpchon prism
- r0chon prism
- r9chon prism
- roxhon prism
- rovhon prism
- rofhon prism
- rodhon prism
- rocgon prism
- rocbon prism
- rocnon prism
Etymology of ROCHON PRISM
The word "Rochon" in "Rochon Prism" is derived from the name of the French physicist and instrument maker named Alexis-Marie Rochon. The term "prism" refers to a geometric solid with two identical and parallel polygonal bases connected by rectangular faces. Alexis-Marie Rochon is credited with inventing and popularizing the Rochon Prism, which is a type of birefringent prism used in optical instruments.
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