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Visualizing a Laser’s Polarization

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Two recent techniques are fast and inexpensive.

Breck Hitz

One of the oldest tricks in the book is checking a laser beam’s polarization with a microscope slide: You stick the slide, oriented at Brewster’s angle, into the beam and then rotate it around the beam axis until the reflection disappears. The direction of the disappearing reflection is the direction of the beam’s polarization. A drawback of this timeworn technique is the safety hazard of having stray beams wandering around on the laboratory walls and ceiling. Figure 1. The pattern of scattered light in the glass sandwich reveals the polarization of the laser beam. The diagram in the...Read full article

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    Published: April 2008
    Brewster’s anglelaser beam’s polarizationMicroscope SlideMicroscopyResearch & TechnologySensors & DetectorsTech Pulse

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