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Cube beamsplitters consist of matched pairs of Right Angle prisms cemented together. The hypotenuse of one prism has a partial reflection coating.
Cube beamsplitters have several advantages over plate beamsplitters: they are easier to mount; they are ideal for beam superposition; they exhibit less ghosting; and mechanical stress causes less deformation. Furthermore, the coatings are less likely to degrade over time because they are sealed into the body of the cube.
The beamsplitters are available with three coating types: broadband hybrid, broadband dielectric, and laser line. Broadband hybrid coatings are relatively insensitive to changes in polarization and wavelength. Broadband dielectric coatings are extremely polarization sensitive and should only be used with randomly or circularly polarized beams in applications where polarization is not important. Laser-line coatings are polarization insensitive only near the design wavelength (e.g., 632.8).
A black dot on the ground side of the prism indicates which prism has the partial reflector on the hypotenuse. The incident beam must enter the prism containing the partial reflector first.
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