We provide zero-order optical contact waveplates with different specifications. A zero-order wave plate is made of two thin plates polished to different thicknesses with a retardation difference exactly equal to the desired retardation difference. These component boards have orthogonal optical axis directions, so the roles of ordinary and extraordinary rays are reversed as they pass from one board to the other.
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1. Quarter-wave and half-wave delays 2. Easy to align; not sensitive to temperature 3. Less sensitive to wavelength shift compared to multi-order waveplates 4. Suitable for high power and low power laser applications 5. The zeroth order waveplate is used to rotate the polarization direction (using a λ/2 plate) or convert linear polarization to circular polarization and vice versa (using a λ/4 plate).
The retardation error is reduced as a function of wavelength, so they are very useful for dye laser or laser diode applications.