Introduction
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Types of Planar Etalons | Fabry-Perot Etalon Theory
Introduction
TecOptics
is the worlds leader in Fabry-Perot Etalon
technology. We supply etalons for laser line narrowing,
laser monitoring, astronomy, UV microlithography, optical
communications, remote sensing, and a myriad of other
industrial and research applications. Although most of
our etalons are custom-designed we stock standard
substrates with clear apertures of 20mm, 25mm, and 30mm
diameters. Standard etalon coatings range from 157nm to 3µ.
We will be happy to help
you define the optimum etalon for your application and
then manufacture it to the required specifications. To
review the basic properties of etalons, you can read the
"What is an Etalon" section below. For more
details, see - "Fabry-Perot Etalon Theory."
For specific information
on the wide variety of etalons TecOptics offers, see
"Types of Planar Etalons".
What
is an Etalon?
A Fabry-Perot
etalon (or simply, an etalon) is the simplest form of a
Fabry-Perot interferometer. Its primary optical property
is that if a monochromatic light ray travels back and
forth between two mirrors and the back-and-forth optical
distance between the mirrors equals an integral number of
wavelengths (l, 2l, 3l, etc.), then the light passes through the
etalon.
An
etalon is one of the following:
- Two very flat, very
parallel mirrors (planar etalon). Almost all
etalons are planar etalons.
- Two identical
spherical mirrors with their concave sides facing
each other and with the distance between the
mirrors equal to each mirrors radius of
curvature (confocal or spherical etalon). These
are much less common and not covered on this
site.
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