Solid, 3-mirror Fabry-Perot etalon

We present modeling and performance of a solid, fused silica, 3-mirror Fabry-Perot-type etalon. 3-mirror etalons have been known for decades to have superior theoretical performance but for the first time we demonstrate an etalon with sufficient quality to realize the benefits of the more complex design. 3-mirror etalons have better passband shape and higher contrast ratio enabling significantly improved wavelength separation. We show the optical cavity design and construction of the new etalon and show > 95% peak transmission, improved passband shape and 20 dB better out-of-band rejection than a similar 2-mirror etalon.