Theory of oblique-incidence phase retarders

Phenomenological and mathematical analyses of oblique incidence in total-internal-reflection phase retarders and the procedure for constructing extremely achromatic quarter-wave retarders are presented. It is shown that the retardance can assume the same value twice at two definite spectral lines. As an example, a quarter-wave phase retarder is described that introduces a retardance of exactly 90° at two He-Ne laser lines of 632.8 and 1150 nm with a maximum deviation of 0.007° for other wavelengths between these two lines. This application is advantageous in conjunction with two-line and multiline lasers where the radiation is usually pumped in a state of circular polarization. © 1997 Optical Society of America.