General Specifications
Material	N-SF11 (Uncoated, -B, -C) N-KZFS8 (-A Coating)
Dimensional Tolerances	±0.15 mm
Angular Tolerances	±10 arcmin
Surface Flatness	λ/10 @ 633 nm
Surface Quality	40-20 Scratch-Dig
Coating Options	Uncoated AR Coated: 350 - 700 nm (-A) AR Coated: 650 - 1050 nm (-B) AR Coated: 1050 - 1620 nm (-C)
Material Damage Threshold	N-KZFS8 -A Coating: 5 J/cm² (532 nm, 10 ns, 10 Hz, Ø0.456 mm) N-SF11 -B Coating: 10 J/cm² (1064 nm, 10 ns, 10 Hz, Ø0.454 mm) N-SF11 -C Coating: 10 J/cm² (1064 nm, 10 ns, 10 Hz, Ø0.521 mm)

Thorlabs' Anamorphic Prism Pairs are used to transform elliptical laser diode beams into nearly circular beams by magnifying the elliptical beam in one dimension. They can also be used to convert a circular beam into an elliptical beam. Available unmounted or mounted in Ø1" housings that feature SM05 (0.535"-40) threads on one end, these prism pairs can be purchased uncoated (unmounted only) or with an antireflection coating for the 350 - 700 nm, 650 - 1050 nm, or 1050 - 1620 nm spectral ranges. Mounted prisms can be chosen with magnifications from 2.0 to 4.0.

Schematic of Unmounted Anamorphic Prism Pairs

An average throughput of 95% can be achieved if the prisms are oriented such that the incident light enters the prism pair at Brewster's angle and each surface has the appropriate AR coating for the wavelength of the incident light. Please note that the maximum input beam width is 90% of the prism width. For the mounted prisms, the maximum input beam height is given by the entrance opening height.

Beam shaping can also be accomplished by using cylindrical lenses, which provide one-dimensional shaping of a beam. For more information about Thorlabs' extensive line of prisms, please refer to the Prism Guide tab above.

Schematic of Mounted Anamorphic Prism Pairs

N-KZFS8 Broadband Antireflection Coatings

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N-SF11 Broadband Antireflection Coatings

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Anamorphic Prism Pair Dependence on Angle

Prism Ray Diagram

The plots below show the angles at which the prisms must be set for various magnifications:

Selection Guide for Prisms

Thorlabs offers a wide variety of prisms, which can be used to reflect, invert, rotate, disperse, steer, and collimate light. Prisms are available in N-BK7, UV Fused Silica, F2, N-SF11, α-BBO, N-KZFS8, Ge, and CaF₂. For prisms and substrates not listed below, please contact tech support.

Beam Steering Prisms

Prism	Material	Deviation	Invert	Reverse or Rotate	Applications
Right Angle Prisms	N-BK7, UV Fused Silica, Germanium, or Calcium Fluoride	90°	90°	No	90° reflector, independent of entrance beam angle. Used in optical systems such as telescopes and periscopes.
Right Angle Prisms	N-BK7, UV Fused Silica, Germanium, or Calcium Fluoride	180°	180°	No	180° reflector, independent of entrance beam angle. Acts as a non-reversing mirror and can be used in binocular configurations.
Retroreflectors and Mounted Retroreflectors	N-BK7	180°	180°	No	180° reflector, independent of entrance beam angle. Beam alignment and beam delivery. Substitute for mirror in applications where orientation is difficult to control.
Penta Prisms and Mounted Penta Prisms	N-BK7	90°	No	No	90° reflector, without inversion or reversal of the beam profile. Can be used for alignment and optical tooling.
Roof Prisms	N-BK7	90°	90°	180^o Rotation	90° reflector, inverted and rotated (deflected left to right and top to bottom). Can be used for alignment and optical tooling.
Dove Prisms and Mounted Dove Prisms	N-BK7	No	180°	2x Prism Rotation	Dove prisms may invert, reverse, or rotate an image based on which face the light is incident on. Prism in a beam rotator orientation.
Dove Prisms and Mounted Dove Prisms	N-BK7	180°	180°	No	Prism acts as a non-reversing mirror. Same properties as a retro-reflector or right angle (180° orientation) prism in an optical setup.
Wedge Prisms	N-BK7	Models Available from 2° to 10°	No	No	Beam steering applications. By rotating one wedged prism, light can be steered to trace the circle defined by 2 times the specified deviation angle.
Wedge Prisms	N-BK7	Models Available from 2° to 10°	No	No	Variable beam steering applications. When both wedges are rotated, the beam can be moved anywhere within the circle defined by 4 times the specified deviation angle.
Coupling Prisms	Rutile (TiO₂) or GGG	Variable*	No	No	High index of refraction substrate used to couple light into films. Rutile used for n_film > 1.8 GGG used for n_film < 1.8

* Depends on angle of incidence and index of refraction

Dispersive Prisms

Prism

Material

Deviation

Invert

Reverse or Rotate

Illustration

Applications

Equilateral Prisms

F2, N-SF11, Germanium, or Calcium Flouride

Variable*

Dispersion prisms are a substitute for diffraction gratings.

Use to separate white light into visible spectrum.

Pellin Broca Prisms

N-BK7, UV Fused Silica, or CaF₂

90°

Ideal for wavelength separation of a beam of light, output at 90°.

Used to separate harmonics of a laser or compensate for group velocity dispersion.

Dispersion Compensating Prism Pairs

Fused Silica, CaF₂, SF10, or N-SF14

Variable Vertical Offset

Compensate for pulse broadening effects in ultrafast laser systems.

Can be used as an optical filter, for wavelength tuning, or dispersion compensation.

* Depends on angle of incidence and index of refraction

Beam Manipulating Prisms

Prism

Material

Deviation

Invert

Reverse or Rotate

Illustration

Applications

Anamorphic Prism Pairs

N-KZFS8 or N-SF11

Variable Vertical Offset

Variable magnification along one axis.

Collimating elliptical beams (e.g., laser diodes)

Converts an elliptical beam into a circular beam by magnifying or contracting the input beam in one axis.

Polarization Altering Prisms

Prism	Material	Deviation	Invert	Reverse or Rotate	Applications
Glan-Taylor, Glan-Laser, and α-BBO Glan-Laser Polarizers	Glan-Taylor: Calcite Glan-Laser: α-BBO or Calcite	p-pol. - 0° s-pol. - 112°*	No	No	Double prism configuration and birefringent calcite produce extremely pure linearly polarized light. Total Internal Reflection of s-pol. at the gap between the prism while p-pol. is transmitted.
Rutile Polarizers	Rutile (TiO₂)	s-pol. - 0° p-pol. absorbed by housing	No	No	Double prism configuration and birefringent rutile (TiO₂) produce extremely pure linearly polarized light. Total Internal Reflection of p-pol. at the gap between the prisms while s-pol. is transmitted.
Double Glan-Taylor Polarizers	Calcite	p-pol. - 0° s-pol. absorbed by housing	No	No	Triple prism configuration and birefringent calcite produce maximum polarized field over a large half angle. Total Internal Reflection of s-pol. at the gap between the prism while p-pol. is transmitted.
Glan Thompson Polarizers	Calcite	p-pol. - 0° s-pol. absorbed by housing	No	No	Double prism configuration and birefringent calcite produce a polarizer with the widest field of view while maintaining a high extinction ratio. Total Internal Reflection of s-pol. at the gap between the prism while p-pol. is transmitted.
Wollaston Prisms Wollaston Polarizers	Calcite	Symmetric p-pol. and s-pol. deviation angle	No	No	Double prism configuration and birefringent calcite produce the widest deviation angle of beam displacing polarizers. s-pol. and p-pol. deviate symmetrically from the prism. Wollaston prisms are used in spectrometers and polarization analyzers.
Beam Displacing Prisms	Calcite	2.7 or 4.0 mm Beam Displacement	No	No	Single prism configuration and birefringent calcite separate an input beam into two orthogonally polarized output beams. s-pol. and p-pol. are displaced by 2.7 or 4.0 mm. Beam displacing prisms can be used as polarizing beamsplitters where 90^o separation is not possible.
Fresnel Rhomb Retarders	N-BK7	Linear to circularly polarization Vertical Offset	No	No	λ/4 Fresnel Rhomb Retarder turns a linear input into circularly polarized output. Uniform λ/4 retardance over a wider wavelength range compared to birefringent wave plates.
Fresnel Rhomb Retarders	N-BK7	Rotates linearly polarized light 90°	No	No	λ/2 Fresnel Rhomb Retarder rotates linearly polarized light 90°. Uniform λ/2 retardance over a wider wavelength range compared to birefringent wave plates.

* s-polarized light is not pure and contains some p-polarized reflections.

Beamsplitter Prisms

Prism

Material

Deviation

Invert

Reverse or Rotate

Illustration

Applications

Beamsplitter Cube
and
Mounted Beamsplitter Cube

N-BK7 - Grade A
400-700 nm
700-1100 nm
1100-1600 nm

50:50 splitting ratio, 0° and 90°

s- and p- pol. within 10% of each other

Double prism configuration and dielectric coating provide 50:50 beamsplitting nearly independent of polarization.

Non-polarizing beamsplitter over the specified wavelength range.

Polarizing Beamsplitter Cube
and
Mounted Polarizing Beamsplitter Cube

SF2
420-680 nm
620-1000 nm
900-1300 nm
1200-1600 nm

p-pol. - 0°

s-pol. - 90°

Double prism configuration and dielectric coating transmit p-pol. light and reflect s-pol. light.

For highest polarization use the transmitted beam.

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Posted Comments:

Poster: bdada

Posted Date: 2012-03-15 15:06:00.0

Response from Buki at Thorlabs to sechaniz: As an update, the damage threshold of the uncoated prism is 10 J/cm2, 10 nsec, 10 Hz @ 1064nm.

Poster: bdada

Posted Date: 2012-03-15 12:50:00.0

Response from Buki at Thorlabs to sechaniz: Thank you for your feedback. We don't have damage threshold test data for the anamorphic prism pairs, but the damage threshold limit for the coated prisms is determined by the AR coating, which is nominally 100 mJ/cm^2 for a 10 ns pulse or 100W/cm^2 at 1064nm. Based on the information you provided, your beam should have a density of about 12W/cm^2, which is below the damage threshold of the coating. Please contact TechSupport@thorlabs.com if you have any questions.

Poster: sechaniz

Posted Date: 2012-03-12 15:41:47.0

Could you please let me know what is the damage threshold of these prisms? In particular, I'd like to use them with an 808 nm laser diode with 1.2 W of power and a beam of 5 x 2 mm. Would this be possible? Thank you.

Poster: bdada

Posted Date: 2012-01-27 02:18:00.0

Response from Buki at Thorlabs: Thank you for using our feedback forum. Anamorphic prism pairs can be used in reverse to convert a circular beam into an elliptical one. We do not anticipate any issues. Please contact TechSupport@thorlabs.com if you have additional questions or want to discuss your application further.

Poster: franxm

Posted Date: 2012-01-13 14:34:45.0

Any issues if the input and output are reversed (i.e., using the anamorphic prism pair to convert a circular beam into an elliptical one)?

Poster: bdada

Posted Date: 2011-03-08 18:09:00.0

Response from Buki: Thank you for your request. We do manufacture custom prisms and we will contact you directly to discuss your application.

Poster: spotnis

Posted Date: 2011-03-07 10:26:22.0

Does thorlab manufacture custom prisms with a wide exit aperture? Im looking for a prism pair which has 10-15x expansion and a 20mm exit aperture.

Poster: Thorlabs

Posted Date: 2010-10-29 15:37:16.0

Response from Javier at Thorlabs to kjsong: Thank you very much for your feedback. I will discuss adding -A versions of our anamorphic prism pairs with our optics department. I will keep you updated.

Poster: kjsong

Posted Date: 2010-10-29 13:41:46.0

I am working with 635nm light. I would like to have PS875-A. But its not listed. It seems odd that there are laser diodes at 400nm and 633nm but no AR coating to cover that range. Its 4 surfaces in an anamorphic prism! That reflects a lot of light!

Poster: Tyler

Posted Date: 2008-09-09 17:02:54.0

A response from Tyler at Thorlabs to rieko.verhagen: We dont have damage threshold test data for the anamorphic prism pairs at 1600 nm. However, the damage threshold limit is determined by the AR coating (if present), which is nominally 100 mJ/cm^2 for 10 ns pulse. Does your application require a higher damage threshold?

Poster: rieko.verhagen

Posted Date: 2008-09-05 07:50:41.0

Thorlabs, Could you please provide me with the damage threshold for nanosecond pulsed laser operation around 1600nm for the PS872-C anamorphic prism pair? With kind regards, Rieko Verhagen

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View All »Matching Part Numbers

Anamorphic Prism Pairs

N-KZFS8 Broadband Antireflection Coatings

N-SF11 Broadband Antireflection Coatings

Anamorphic Prism Pair Dependence on Angle

Selection Guide for Prisms

Beam Steering Prisms

Dispersive Prisms

Beam Manipulating Prisms

Polarization Altering Prisms

Beamsplitter Prisms