Types and applications of optical prisms

In optical devices, a piece of glass or other transparent material cut at a precise angle and plane, which can be used to analyze and reflect light. Ordinary triangular prism can separate white light into its constituent color, which is called spectrum. Each color or wavelength that makes up white light is bent or refracted, but in different quantities. Shorter wavelengths (towards the purple end of the spectrum) bend the most, while longer wavelengths (towards the red end of the spectrum) bend the least. This prism is used in some spectroscopes, instruments for analyzing light and determining the identification and structure of materials emitting or absorbing light.

Spectroscopic prism An optical prism refracts light to reflect (reflection prism), disperse (dispersion prism) or split (beam splitter) light. Prisms are usually made of glass, but any material can be used as long as the material is transparent and suitable for the design wavelength. Common materials include glass, plastic and fluorite.

Optical prisms can reverse the direction of light through internal reflection, so they are very useful in binoculars.

Depending on the application, optical prisms can be made into many different forms and shapes. For example, the Baltic prism is composed of two prisms, which can reverse both images and images, and is used in many optical observation instruments, such as periscope, binocular telescope and monocular telescope.