Metallic Mirrors

Most metals can be coated on glass, metal or plastic for use as broadband reflectors. The most common metallic coatings are: aluminum, silver, gold, copper, nickel, and platinum. The metallic coatings can be supplied as bare metal or protected with a dielectric material to reduce handling and cleaning problems. All the protected coatings will meet or exceed the durability requirements of MIL-M-13508. Metallic mirrors can be used at any angle of incidence of light. The state of polarization will be altered for any angle. The change is small compared to dielectric coatings. The effect is an increase in polarization as the angle of incident is increased. This is due to the complex indices of the metallic and dielectric materials. The metallic coating can be supplied as a first or second surface reflector.