Linear polarizer design for application in the far-ultraviolet spectral range

Mateo Batkis; Manuel A. Quijada; Paul Scowen; Robert Woodruff; Luis V. Rodriguez de Marcos; Javier del Hoyo; Johnathan Gamaunt

doi:10.1117/12.2676820

4 October 2023 Linear polarizer design for application in the far-ultraviolet spectral range

Mateo Batkis, Manuel A. Quijada, Paul Scowen, Robert Woodruff, Luis V. Rodriguez de Marcos, Javier del Hoyo, Johnathan Gamaunt

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12676, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts XI; 1267612 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676820
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Conference Poster

Abstract

New mission concepts that are under consideration by NASA call for the design and implementation of Far Ultraviolet (FUV) polarizer technologies that have not been developed yet. A team that includes members from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Arizona State University (ASU), and Woodruff Consulting, worked on the design and development of a polarizer design that produce very high extinction ratios in the FUV spectral range (100-200 nm). This polarizer consists of reflecting light through a series of mirrors from a combination of two silicon carbide (SiC) and two lithium fluoride (LiF) crystals positioned at angles of incidence (relative to surface normal) close to the average LiF Brewster’s angle in the FUV. The output is a highly linearly polarized beam. This polarizer concept was fabricated and tested in the existing McPherson 225 Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) spectrometer located in the Optics Branch at NASAGSFC. Initial testing using a MgF₂ crystal at the Brewster’s angle as an analyzer has shown that this design can produce state-of-the-art extinction ratios at the Hydrogen Lyman-Alpha (Ly-α) wavelength of 121.6 nm, and that the measured extinction ratio of the two crossed polarizers, ≈114, is mostly limited by the MgF₂ analyzer. A polarizer with such a performance at this wavelength has never been reported and it signifies a breakthrough in FUV polarization technology. The levels of effectiveness paired with the polarizer’s compact design allows for a new polarizer capability that would one day be implemented in a future FUV spectropolarimetry space mission.

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Mateo Batkis, Manuel A. Quijada, Paul Scowen, Robert Woodruff, Luis V. Rodriguez de Marcos, Javier del Hoyo, and Johnathan Gamaunt "Linear polarizer design for application in the far-ultraviolet spectral range", Proc. SPIE 12676, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts XI, 1267612 (4 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676820

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