1/2 wave plates are ready to go

[dave]

Hey guys,

I have been speaking to the optics mob that Simon hooked up the PBS and prisms thru about some 1/2 wave plates, and so here we go.

I have tested one made for 445nm with one of the PBS cubes from a group buy, and they work very well. Very little loss between the plate and PBS combined.

Minimum order is 100 wave plates, and at this quantity we are looking at $45AUD a plate including paypal fees and airmail shipping for a mixed order.

Will need to get wavelength specific 1/2 wave plates, so I am thinking of the following wavelengths.

445nm
532nm
640nm
660nm

Who is interested? I would be thinking 445 and 660nm will be the more popular, and 532 being less popular, but I could be wrong.

Show interest below

[Geetone]

Dave, what are those waveplates' purpose?

[dave]

Dave, what are those waveplates' purpose?

To rotate polarisation of a polarised source. So you can start with 2 vertically polarised diodes, and rotate one so they can be combined with a PBS cube..

[Geetone]

To rotate polarisation of a polarised source. So you can start with 2 vertically polarised diodes, and rotate one so they can be combined with a PBS cube..

Dave, I'm sorry for offtop, but couldn't that be achieved by simply rotating the diode? oO Or I've misunderstood something...

[dnar]

Correct me if I wrong, but I think these rotate the polarisation without rotating the beam profile.

[dave]

Correct me if I wrong, but I think these rotate the polarisation without rotating the beam profile.

dead right, makes say a quad red a lot easier, as you don't have to stack beams vertically

[Geetone]

Correct me if I wrong, but I think these rotate the polarisation without rotating the beam profile.

I just wanted to know if I'm not gonna need these when I get two 642nm diodes from Dave's GB to combine them with a PBS.

[Doc]

Dave, I'm sorry for offtop, but couldn't that be achieved by simply rotating the diode? oO Or I've misunderstood something...

You can BUT, the diode's output is oval, so if you rotate the diodes you can't get the beams close enough together when knife edging. The wave plate rotates the polarisation but doesn't rotate the oval beam profile.

More or less a must combining 6+ diodes

Sneaky or what

[Doc]

One @ 660 for me please Davidsan

[Geetone]

You can BUT, the diode's output is oval, so if you rotate the diodes you can't get the beams close enough together when knife edging. The wave plate rotates the polarisation but doesn't rotate the oval beam profile.

Sneaky or what

It seems I've got much more to learn...