Color separation of argon laser light with the effect of dispersion of optical activity

A new approach for spatially separating the green and the blue components of an argon laser beam is presented. By exploiting the effect of dispersion of optical activity, this approach renders the vibration planes of the green and the blue components of a linearly polarized argon laser orthogonal to each other; this is done by passing the beam through an optically active crystal and then spatially separating the components with a Wollaston prism. Two methods for controlling the directions of the polarization of the transmitted beams are discussed. The new design is characterized by higher separation efficiency, lower energy loss, and system simplicity and symmetry. The measured data for the new design are also given.