Calcite (CaCO3) crystal is a negative uniaxial crystal well-known for its high birefringence and transparence in broad region of spectrum. It is the ideal material for manufacturing various polarizers used in visible-IR range such as Glan-Taylor polarizers, Glan-Thompson polarizers and Glan laser polarizers. Recently, calcite plates/blocks are also widely used for time delay compensation between two orthogonally polarized ultrafast pulses.
On this page are birefringent calcite plates/blocks. For polarizing optics manufactured from Calcite crystal, please visit Polarizing Optics. For time delay compensenation with Calcite crystals, please visit Time Delay Compensators.
Calcite crystal wedges/prisms are also available. Please check the "Tech Info" tab below for details.
Part No. | Description | Thickness | Orientation | Price | Availability | Add to Cart |
Basic Properties of Calcite Crystal:
Transparency Range: 350 - 2300 nm |
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Crystal Symmetry: Hexagonal, Space group R3c | ||||
Lattice Constants: a=b=4.994A, c=17.081A |
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Density: 2.71 g/cm3 | ||||
Thermo-Optic Coefficients (@ 532nm) dno/dT= 2.7 x 10-6 /oC dne/dT= 12.3 x 10-6/oC |
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Damage Threshold (10 ns, 10 Hz) at 1064 nm - 100 MW/cm2 at 532 nm - 50 MW/cm2 |
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Optical Homogeneity: Δn < 10-6/cm | ||||
Mohs Hardness: 3.0 | ||||
Thermal Expansion Coefficients | αa = - 4.9 x 10-6/K αc = 25.1 x 10-6/K |
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Sellmeier Equations (λ in µm) : |
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Wavelength (nm) | no | ne | Birefringence (Δn=ne -no) |
Walk-off Angle at 45° |
1550 | 1.6336 | 1.4772 | -0.156 | 5.73° |
1064 | 1.6423 | 1.4797 | -0.162 | 5.93° |
800 | 1.6487 | 1.4821 | -0.166 | 6.06° |
632.8 | 1.6557 | 1.4852 | -0.171 | 6.18° |
532 | 1.6629 | 1.4886 | -0.174 | 6.30° |
400 | 1.6823 | 1.4974 | -0.185 | 6.61° |
355 | 1.6951 | 1.5032 | -0.192 | 6.82° |
* Calcite crystal is a natural mined material, not synthetic material. Defects in a calcite crystal (a large and thick crystal in particular) can cause scattering and absorption within the bulk.
Specifications of Calcite Components:
Dimension Tolerance: |
±0.05 mm for T<1.0 mm, ±0.1 mm for T>=1.0 mm |
Wedge Angle Tolerance: | 0.1° |
Surface Quality: |
20/10 Scratch and Dig |
Optical Axis Orientation: | +/-0.5° |
Parallelism: |
<30 arc sec |
Perpendicularity: | <10 arc min |
Flatness: |
λ/4 @ 632.8 nm |
Transmission Wavefront Distortion: |
<λ/4 @ 632.8 nm |
Common cut orientations of Calcite crystals:
Prisms:
Calcite crystals with a wedge angle (α) can be custom fabricated with the specified orientation of the optical axis. A paired or such prisms with the optical axes orthogonal to each other can be used to continuously adjust the phase shift or time delay between two orthogonally polarized pulses.
Coatings:
Calcite crystals are uncoated unless the coating is specified.
The input and output faces can be AR coated with R < 0.25% at the specified wavelength(s). Please specify the coating and append to the part number, e.g.CAL5010-A-AR800/400 for the a-cut calcite crystal with the dual AR coating @ 800/400 nm.
Coating curve: AR800/400nm
Mount:
For customer convenience and protection of crystals, crystals can be pre-mounted in a 1" (25.4 mm) anodized aluminum holder. A standard 1" mirror mount may be conveniently used to tune the crystals for optimized birefringence or time delay. A rotation stage may be further used if a larger angular change is needed.
OD 0.5" (12.7 mm) holders for smaller crystals or OD 30 mm holders for larger crystals are available upon request.
If you do not find the suitable products above, you may let us know your requirements or applications in the form below. Our sales or technical staff will get back to you as soon as possible.
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