Measurement and characterization of angular reflectance for cube-corners and microspheres

Angular-reflectance measurements were performed on sev- eral retroreflectors: metal-backed solid cube-corner arrays, metal- backed microspheres, and bare microspheres. Their peak values were 140% msr 21 , 30% msr 21 , and 2.0% msr 21 , respectively. An instrument for measurement of angular reflectance is described. Methods for char- acterization of retroreflectors are developed for the purpose of predicting radiance and image contrast. Issues related to the minimum and maxi- mum range of detection are discussed. Angular reflectance characteris- tics of cube-corners and microspheres are measured and discussed. © 1999 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. (S0091-3286(99)01701-8) Subject terms: retroreflector; cube-corner; microsphere; contrast; visibility; angu- lar reflectance; directional reflectance.

[1]  H. Stephenson,et al.  Influence of aperture size on the photometry of retroreflectors. , 1980, Applied optics.

[2]  R. Azzam,et al.  Polarization properties of corner-cube retroreflectors: theory and experiment. , 1997, Applied optics.

[3]  M. A. Acharekar.  Derivation Of Internal Incidence Angles And Coordinate Transformations Between Internal Reflections For Corner Reflectors At Normal Incidence , 1984 .

[4]  J J Rennilson.  Retroreflection measurements: a review. , 1980, Applied optics.

[5]  M. Scholl.  Ray trace through a corner-cube retroreflector with complex reflection coefficients , 1995 .

[6]  W S HUXFORD,et al.  Survey of near infra-red communication systems. , 1948, Journal of the Optical Society of America.

[7]  H. F. Stephenson,et al.  Factors affecting the metrology of retroreflecting materials. , 1980, Applied optics.

[8]  Bjorn Brekke.  Retroreflectors In Road Traffic: Evaluation Of Pedestrian Retroreflectors , 1982, Other Conferences.

[9]  M S Chung,et al.  Polarization properties of cube-corner retroreflectors and their effects on signal strength and nonlinearity in heterodyne interferometers. , 1996, Applied optics.

[10]  M. A. Player.  Polarization properties of a cube-corner reflector , 1988 .

[11]  H. F. Stephenson.  The Photometry Of Retroreflectors , 1979, Other Conferences.

[12]  K L Eckerle,et al.  NBS reference retroreflectometer. , 1980, Applied optics.

[13]  J. Moerman.  Accuracy of photometry of retroreflectors and retroreflective materials , 1977 .

[14]  J. B. Ross,et al.  Coherent CO(2) laser communication system with modulable retroreflectors. , 1995, Applied optics.

[15]  Edson R. Peck,et al.  Polarization Properties of Corner Reflectors and Cavities , 1962 .

[16]  N. L. Johnson.  Accuracy In The Photometry Of Retroreflectors , 1979, Optics & Photonics.