A prism coupler is a prism designed to couple a substantial fraction of the power contained in a beam of light (e.g., a laser beam) into a thin film to be used as a waveguide without the need for precision polishing of the edge of the film, without the need for sub-micron alignment precision of the beam and the edge of the film, and without the need for matching the numerical aperture of the beam to the film. Using a prism coupler, a beam coupled into a thin film can have a diameter hundreds of times the thickness of the film. Invention of the coupler contributed to the initiation of a field of study known as integrated optics.
Read more about Prism Coupler: Coupler Configuration, Theory of The Prism Coupler, Alternative Ways To Understand The Prism Coupler, References, Measurement Applications of Prism Couplers
Famous quotes containing the word prism:
“Neither can I do anything to please critics belonging to the good old school of “projected biography,” who examine an author’s work, which they do not understand, through the prism of his life, which they do not know.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)