Wedge

This element represents a plate of optical material whose front and back surfaces are flat but not parallel. A wedge angle of zero turns it into a plane-parallel plate.

Since this element encloses a volume of material, it can be operated as an amplifier: a pump scenario assigns it a gain model, and light travelling through the medium is amplified accordingly. Without such an assignment the wedge is the passive component described here. With flat surfaces and a suitable optic shape it is the closest match to a slab or disk amplifier head.

Ports

input_1

Input port.

output_1

Light ouput. This port represents the light having passed the back surface of the wedge.

Properties

center thickness

Thickness of the wedge in its center along the (local) optical axis.

material

The (glass-) material the wedge is made of. It carries the refractive index model — a constant value or a dispersion formula such as Sellmeier or Schott — which is what the refraction at both surfaces is calculated from.

wedge

Wedge angle. Angle between the front and back surface. An angle of zero corresponds to parallel surfaces.

optic shape

Transversal extent of the wedge: the size the material is actually available in. It decides which rays hit the wedge, at both of its faces: a ray that would enter or leave through the side misses it and follows the analyzer’s missed surface strategy (see Optic shape). Defaults to a circle of 12.5 mm radius, i.e. the usual 1 inch mount. Choose it so that the wedge keeps a positive thickness: beyond its thin edge rays miss the rear surface. Open is refused.