New Types of Polarizers Made from Crystals of the Calomel Group

The present work deals with the applicability of the mercurous halide crystals to the production of polarizers of light. The wide transmission region of these crystals mainly in the infrared region allows to use them for wavelenghts up to about 20 m̈m for mercurous chloride and 30 m̈m for mecrurous bromide. Especially high double refraction allows a construction of classical polarizer types having very advantageous parameters, i.e. small thickness of the element and large angle of splitting of the ordinary and extraordinary ray. Besides, high double refraction allows an original design of single-piece (monolithic) polarizers which are characterized by relatively simple treatment, high quality and low losses.