POLARIZATION PROPERTIES OF CUBE-CORNER RETROREFLECTORS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON SIGNAL STRENGTH AND NONLINEARITY IN HETERODYNE INTERFEROMETERS

The polarization properties of solid-state cube-corner retroreflectors , which are uncoated glass or metal-coated glass on the reflecting sur faces, are examined analytically and compared. Experimental verificati ons are presented for the case of linearly polarized incident light. W hen the uncoated cube-corner is used in a heterodyne interferometer, t he polarization properties reveal that the axial orientation of the co rner reflector has an effect on the strength of the beat signal and th e nonlinearity error. A theoretical analysis of the effect is presente d together with experimental results. (C) 1996 Optical Society of Amer ica