Plano-convex spherical optical mirror
Optolita
Metallic mirrors are widely used due to a moderate level of reflection over a very broad spectral range. Protected gold coatings have the highest reflectance in IR, silver is most efficient in VIS, while aluminium is economical reflector over entire 300-IR region.
A layer of dielectric material protects the coatings of the mirrors in order to make them durable. Enhanced metallic coatings provide greater reflection across the operating bandwidth.
As metallic coatings modify the state of polarization of an incident beam, they are inappropriate for polarization sensitive applications.
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