Dove prism with increased throughput for implementation in a rotational-shearing interferometer

An analytical expression is derived for the tilt introduced into a wave front by a Dove prism with manufacturing errors in the prism's base angles and pyramidal angle. We found that the tilt decreases when the base angles are increased above the values of traditional design. The increase in the length-aperture ratio of a prism is detrimental to the prism's performance. However, a Dove prism with a widened aperture increases throughput and maintains a manageable prism weight for implementation in a rotational shearing interferometer. Thus we propose a Dove prism designed with a widened aperture to increase throughput in a rotational shearing interferometer and with larger base angles to minimize the wave-front tilt introduced by manufacturing errors. Experimental results implemented in a rotational shearing interferometer demonstrate the feasibility of this design. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.