A right angle prism is a type of optical prism with a rectangular cross-section and two perpendicular faces that meet at a 90-degree angle. These prisms are often made of glass, fused silica or other IR transparent materials.
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One of the most common uses of a right angle prism is to reflect and redirect light. When light enters the prism at one of its faces, it is refracted or bent as it passes through the prism and then reflected off the perpendicular face. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, and the result is a beam of light that is redirected at a 90-degree angle from its original direction.
Right angle prisms can be used in a variety of optical systems, including cameras, binoculars, and telescopes. They are often used to invert or revert an image, to rotate or displace a beam of light, or to combine two beams of light at a 90-degree angle. Right angle prisms are also used in scientific research, such as in spectroscopy and laser experiments.
A right angle prism is an optical prism designed to deviate light by 90° or 180°, depending on the orientation of the prism and the face through which light enters. The joining edges and faces are perpendicular to the base faces, and all joining faces are rectangular.
Although many functions of a right angle prism can be accomplished with plane mirrors, prisms are easier to mount, align, and fine-tune. If the hypotenuse is used for external reflection, a metal or dielectric reflective coating can be applied.
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In the standard configuration a right angle prism is oriented so that a short face (leg) faces the light source. Light entering the prism will reflect off of the hypotenuse at a 90 degree angle in total internal reflection and emerge from the other short face. An antireflection coating on the entrance and exit face can ensure high transmission.
When light enters through the hypotenuse the right angle prism becomes a 180 beam retroreflector and is called a porroprism. In this configuration light will undergo a 180 deviation and return through the hypotenuse with a simple positional displacement. Images will be inverted top to bottom but not left to right. The beam elevation can be controlled by precise adjustment to the prism, and the azimuthal axis will remain invariant.
The porro prism is mainly used to alter the orientation of an image, and is often used in optical viewing instruments: for instance, telescopes, periscopes, and binoculars. Often two porro prisms, sometimes cemented together with optical cement, are used for these applications.
A dove prism is a variation on the right angle prism, and is used as an image rotator. Light enters the prism through one of the legs, at an angle parallel to the hypotenuse face. It is refracted downward toward the inside of the hypotenuse, undergoes total internal reflection, and is refracted through the prisms. It exits through the other leg and proceeds in the same direction it was traveling to begin with. Dove prims are used only with collimated light because otherwise considerable astigmatism is introduced. Often, dove prisms are manufactured as a truncated right angle prism without the triangular apex. This allows the weight to be significantly reduced. Standard right angle prisms, however, can also be used.