Meadowlark Optics is pleased to offer a selection of quarter- and half-wave achromatic retarders that span the UV, visible, near IR and IR portions of the spectrum. Two multi-order crystalline retarders, one made of crystalline quartz and the other magnesium fluoride, are combined in a subtractive mode to give an effective zero-order waveplate. By a careful choice of waveplate thicknesses, retardance dispersion is balanced to give a nearly constant retardance (in waves) over a broad range of wavelengths. The useable wavelength range is defined to give a retardance value within λ/100 of the nominal value. Custom designs with larger achromatic ranges or deeper UV wavelengths are available on request.

Bi-Crystalline Achromats are similar in achromatic performance to our polymer achromats in the visible, but they excel in the IR. They have higher power handling capability than our polymer achromats and can with stand higher storage temperatures. Their field of view is narrow compared to polymer achromats. Typically, they cannot be expected to meet their retardance accuracy for rays whose incidence angles exceed 1.5°. If you must have the performance of a Bi-Crystalline Achromat and a large field of view, call us. We have a proprietary design that can be your polarization solution.