Hello,   
      
   I have a question regarding optically contacted polarizing beam splitters   
   (PBS) that has been bugging me for a little while now.   
      
   To my understanding, optical contact means that two pieces of substrate, say   
   UV Fused silica, are brought into contact and then allowed to form molecular   
   bonds which are extremely strong. The two pieces then behave like a single   
   bulk.   
      
   Now my questions are as follows:   
      
   For PBS that are optically contacted, how does one get an anti-reflection   
   coating in? I suppose anti-reflection coating exists on the hypotenuse of   
   either one of the prism, but how is this still then able to "optically   
   contact"? Does this not prevent the    
   optical "contactness" from being optimal?   
      
   Secondly, does it matter which side a laser enters the said PBS from? Does it   
   matter whether the incident surface on the prism that had the anti-reflection   
   coating on its hypotenuse? My guess would be no, because there isn't any   
   glue/epoxy that is used    
   to keep the pieces together. But it still seems like it matters?   
      
   Would be grateful for some kind of answers; it would be quite the enlightening   
   moment for me xD   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)