Stokes polarimetry using liquid-crystal variable retarders and nonlinear voltage-retardance function

C. A. Velázquez Olivera; J. M. López Téllez; N. C. Bruce

doi:10.1117/12.901661

21 October 2011 Stokes polarimetry using liquid-crystal variable retarders and nonlinear voltage-retardance function

C. A. Velázquez Olivera, J. M. López Téllez, N. C. Bruce

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8011, 22nd Congress of the International Commission for Optics: Light for the Development of the World; 80110C (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.901661
Event: International Commission for Optics (ICO 22), 2011, Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

Stokes polarimetry using variable retardance elements such as Pockel´s cells and liquid crystals is a well-developed technique. There are two standard methods of analysis to extract the Stokes vector from the data using only one detector. One is to use only certain values of the retardances to obtain data for a number of fixed polarization combinations. The other is to use all the polarization combinations of the retardances for an oscillating voltage applied to the cells, and perform a Fourier analysis on the time varying signal. This method requires a linear relationship between the applied voltage and the obtained retardance. However, in general, for liquid-crystal variable retarders, this relationship is not linear. We present an analysis of a proposed method to use a nonlinear voltage-retardance relation to extract the Stokes parameters of a light beam. The method assumes a known nonlinear function relating the voltage and the retardance and uses a least-squares fit of the measured data to the calculated Mueller matrix of the polarimeter.

Citation Download Citation

C. A. Velázquez Olivera, J. M. López Téllez, and N. C. Bruce "Stokes polarimetry using liquid-crystal variable retarders and nonlinear voltage-retardance function", Proc. SPIE 8011, 22nd Congress of the International Commission for Optics: Light for the Development of the World, 80110C (21 October 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.901661

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