Lerxst
Well-known member
I have updated a series of posts related to the topics of resolution degradation inherent to uncoated roof prisms and the use of multilayer phase coatings to mitigate the problem. These may be of interest to a few people here. I welcome feedback on any of this material.
Some of this is still a work in progress, as I have an additional model that I have yet to complete, which aims to account in detail for the specific color versus orientation results readily observed when coated prisms are placed between polarizers. I was hoping to finish that before presenting all this material together, but I need to put this project into abeyance for a while. Meanwhile, there is a considerable amount of new animations and code that I have added to the following posts, not to mention some interesting new references that I have only recently uncovered. I've added entirely new material exploring how the polarizer-based test of Weyrauch and Dörband works, and include an English version of their oft-mentioned German-language reference.
Specific pages and their contents:
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part I - Michael Hurben, PhD
Added new animations for ray tracing through various prisms. Otherwise dedicated to developing an intuitive model for the origin of the phase offsets.
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part II - Michael Hurben, PhD
Added some new elliptical polarization animations. Otherwise mostly concerned with tracing the change in polarization states along the two roof prism paths.
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part III - Michael Hurben, PhD
Updated to include an analysis of a nine-layer phase coating, extending the approach used in Mauer’s classic three-layer paper. A short Python program for simulating up to 9 layers using transfer matrices is included.
The Physics of Roof Prism and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Polarization Effects - Michael Hurben, PhD
Includes a discussion of the polarizer test for coated/uncoated prisms (see next entry as well) and some ruminations on the color effects in coated prisms. I’m working on extending this into a useful model but it is not finished.
On the Passage of Linearly Polarized Light through an Uncoated Roof Prism - Michael Hurben, PhD
An exploration of the light transmitted through an uncoated Schmidt-Pechan prism as a function of polarization angle. Includes Python code for calculating output polarization for coated and uncoated prisms, including both S-P and A-K designs.
Technical References for Roof Prism Resolution Loss, Phase Coatings, and Related Topics - Michael Hurben, PhD
A list of references, many of which are included as PDF files. I’ve unearthed a few new ones recently, which is wonderful, given the paucity of literature on this subject.
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings - Michael Hurben, PhD
My initial technical treatment that derives an expression for the single slit interference pattern degraded by an Amici roof prism, based on a Jones calculus approach to the polarization states. Also includes a treatment of the phase coating strategy using the transfer matrix method. Recently updated the paper to fix several minor typos.
Some of this is still a work in progress, as I have an additional model that I have yet to complete, which aims to account in detail for the specific color versus orientation results readily observed when coated prisms are placed between polarizers. I was hoping to finish that before presenting all this material together, but I need to put this project into abeyance for a while. Meanwhile, there is a considerable amount of new animations and code that I have added to the following posts, not to mention some interesting new references that I have only recently uncovered. I've added entirely new material exploring how the polarizer-based test of Weyrauch and Dörband works, and include an English version of their oft-mentioned German-language reference.
Specific pages and their contents:
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part I - Michael Hurben, PhD
Added new animations for ray tracing through various prisms. Otherwise dedicated to developing an intuitive model for the origin of the phase offsets.
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part II - Michael Hurben, PhD
Added some new elliptical polarization animations. Otherwise mostly concerned with tracing the change in polarization states along the two roof prism paths.
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Part III - Michael Hurben, PhD
Updated to include an analysis of a nine-layer phase coating, extending the approach used in Mauer’s classic three-layer paper. A short Python program for simulating up to 9 layers using transfer matrices is included.
The Physics of Roof Prism and Phase Coatings, Simplified: Polarization Effects - Michael Hurben, PhD
Includes a discussion of the polarizer test for coated/uncoated prisms (see next entry as well) and some ruminations on the color effects in coated prisms. I’m working on extending this into a useful model but it is not finished.
On the Passage of Linearly Polarized Light through an Uncoated Roof Prism - Michael Hurben, PhD
An exploration of the light transmitted through an uncoated Schmidt-Pechan prism as a function of polarization angle. Includes Python code for calculating output polarization for coated and uncoated prisms, including both S-P and A-K designs.
Technical References for Roof Prism Resolution Loss, Phase Coatings, and Related Topics - Michael Hurben, PhD
A list of references, many of which are included as PDF files. I’ve unearthed a few new ones recently, which is wonderful, given the paucity of literature on this subject.
The Physics of Roof Prisms and Phase Coatings - Michael Hurben, PhD
My initial technical treatment that derives an expression for the single slit interference pattern degraded by an Amici roof prism, based on a Jones calculus approach to the polarization states. Also includes a treatment of the phase coating strategy using the transfer matrix method. Recently updated the paper to fix several minor typos.
