Prisms » Corner Cube Retro-Reflectors

Corner Cube Retro-Reflectors operate on the principle of total internal reflection (TIR).

A beam entering the effective aperture is reflected by the three roof surfaces and emerges from the entrance / exit surface parallel to itself. This property is independent of orientation of the retro-reflector, within acceptance angle limitations.

For applications in which either the acceptance angle for TIR is exceeded, or the reflecting surfaces cannot be kept sufficiently clean for TIR, a metal or dielectric coating can be applied to the reflecting surfaces.