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 the 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 applied sufficiently clean for TIR, a metal or dielectric coating can be applied to the reflecting surfaces. |