Abstract

A retroreflector (a device that reflects an incident beam of light through exactly 180°) constructed from a primary concave mirror and a small secondary mirror near its paraxial focus, the so-called cat’s-eye retroreflector, has been investigated. Ray-tracing of systems with both spherical and parabolic primaries suggests that the latter are considerably superior to the former and comparable to a cube-corner retroreflector. The investigation has also enabled mechanical tolerances for the construction of a cat’s-eye retroreflector to be deduced. The predicted tolerances may be much easier to attain than those for a cube-corner retroreflector.

© 1966 Optical Society of America

Mirror tilt immunity interferometry with a cat’s eye retroreflector

Fabián E. Peña-Arellano and Clive C. Speake
Appl. Opt. 50(7) 981-991 (2011)

Paraxial ray analysis of a cat's-eye retroreflector

J. J. Snyder
Appl. Opt. 14(8) 1825-1828 (1975)

Design and performance considerations of cat’s-eye retroreflectors for use in open-path Fourier-transform-infrared spectrometry

Robert L. Richardson and Peter R. Griffiths
Appl. Opt. 41(30) 6332-6340 (2002)

Modeling of micro cat’s eye retroreflectors using a matrix-based three-dimensional ray tracing technique

Bing-jun Yang, Keng-hsing Chao, and Jui-che Tsai
Appl. Opt. 51(25) 6020-6030 (2012)

Pseudo-cat’s eye for improved tilt-immune interferometry

Clive C. Speake and Miranda J. Bradshaw
Appl. Opt. 54(24) 7387-7395 (2015)