retroreflector
Sign in to saveA retroreflector (sometimes called a retroflector or cataphote) is a device or surface that reflects light or other radiation back to its source with minimum scattering. This works at a wide range of angle of incidence, unlike a planar mirror, which does this only if the mirror is exactly perpendicular to the wave front, having a zero angle of incidence. Being directed, the retroflector's reflection is brighter than that of a diffuse reflector. Corner reflectors and cat's eye reflectors are the most used kinds.
Key facts
- Laboratory equipment.name
- Retroreflector
- Laboratory equipment.image
- Corner-Cube.jpg
- Laboratory equipment.caption
- A gold corner-cube retroreflector (made with three orthogonally joined flat mirrors)
- Laboratory equipment.uses
- Distance measurement by optical delay line High-visibility markings in low-light conditions
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Types
- Corner reflector
- Cat's eye
- Phase-conjugate mirror
- Operation
- Applications
- On roads
- For signs
- Ships, boats, emergency gear
- Surveying
- In space
- On the Moon
- On Mars
- In satellites{{anchor|In Earth orbit}}
- Free-space optical communication
- Other uses
- History
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
A retroreflector (sometimes called a retroflector or cataphote) is a device or surface that reflects light or other radiation back to its source with minimum scattering. This works at a wide range of angle of incidence, unlike a planar mirror, which does this only if the mirror is exactly perpendicular to the wave front, having a zero angle of incidence. Being directed, the retroflector's reflection is brighter than that of a diffuse reflector. Corner reflectors and cat's eye reflectors are the most used kinds.
==Types== There are several ways to obtain retroreflection: