The effect of experimental errors on optimized polarimeters

Neil C. Bruce; Iván Montes-González

doi:10.1117/12.2675831

3 October 2023 The effect of experimental errors on optimized polarimeters

Neil C. Bruce, Iván Montes-González

Proceedings Volume 12690, Polarization Science and Remote Sensing XI; 126900G (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2675831
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Stokes polarimeters measure some or all the Stokes parameters of a light beam. To reduce the effect of noise in the measurements made on the final calculated Stokes parameters, a polarimeter can be optimized by minimizing the condition number of the characteristic or instrument matrix. However, this optimization does not guarantee the best stability in the presence of experimental errors in the polarimeter configuration. This is particularly important for polarimeters using liquid-crystal variable retarders, which have we have found have errors in the retardance as a function of position in the aperture of the liquid-crystal cell, and fast axis angles as a function of the applied voltage, so even the best aligned of this type of system will have these errors. We have found that different optimized polarimeter configurations can have very different sensitivity to experimental errors. In this work, we present an analysis of a number of different optimized systems to find the most stable configuration with respect to experimental errors. In particular, we consider the variation of the volume of the solid formed in the Poincaré sphere by the Stokes vector values used in each polarimeter configuration.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Neil C. Bruce and Iván Montes-González "The effect of experimental errors on optimized polarimeters", Proc. SPIE 12690, Polarization Science and Remote Sensing XI, 126900G (3 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2675831

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available