Newport has introduced its Large Diameter Achromatic Zero-Order Quartz-MgF2 Wave Plates.
The family of larger aperture optics consists of two different birefringent crystals – crystalline quartz and magnesium fluoride (MgF2) – each with a highly efficient broadband antireflection coating, in an air-spaced design. The construction ensures excellent transmitted wavefront quality, while minimising beam deviation and surface reflection losses. The assembly is mounted in a black, anodised aluminium housing for protection and ease of mounting, with the retarder fast axis reference marked for alignment.
The new, larger diameter wave plates feature 23mm clear apertures and operate in the spectral wavelengths from 610 to 850nm or from 700 to 1000nm. Manufactured in the US, there are four new models; each is available with half or quarter wave retardance. The Achromatic Quartz-MgF2 Zero-Order Wave Plates provide a much higher degree of accuracy than regular zero-order quartz wave plates, maintaining retardation from ±λ/50 to ±λ/100 over the entire bandwidth.