基于旋转波片的斯托克斯参量检测与精度分析

用于偏振光学遥感器定标的参考光源,其偏振态的检测精度会直接影响偏振光学遥感器的定标精度,进而影响目标特性的反演水平。选用870 nm波段的水平线偏振光作为被测试的定标参考光源,通过旋转1/4波片(quarter-wave plate, QWP)对其光强进行调制。调制光强可表达为波片快轴旋转角度的傅里叶级数,采用傅里叶变换法反演出级数的系数,根据该系数即可计算出被测试光源的Stokes参量。给出10次测量各参量及偏振度的平均值、标准偏差、合成不确定度以及测量平均值与理论值的相对偏差。为提高测试精度,通过对波片快轴初始定位角度偏差Δα、延迟量偏差Δδ与检偏器透光轴角度偏差Δβ进行分析,提出了偏差修正模型。该模型通过Stokes参量检测偏差随Δδ和Δβ的变化趋势及实际偏差值,确定Δδ和Δβ的大小。结合模拟出的波片快轴初始定位角度偏差Δα,对实验装置加以调整,再次对光源的偏振态进行检测。结果表明,基于该修正模型测得光源的各Stokes参量与理论值最大偏差从未经修正的3.77%降低至1.41%。证实了基于本实验的原理、装置、测量方法及所提出的偏差修正模型可有效提高定标参考光源偏振态检测的精度。     

基于斯托克斯参量的光弹性应力分布及成像方法研究

提出了一种基于斯托克斯参量测量的实时光弹性应力测量及其成像的新方法,对该方法的原理及参量测量方法进行了深入研究。根据分振幅斯托克斯参量测量原理设计一个实验系统,利用Equator-Poles(E-P)法定标系统,采用4个性能一致的光电探测器实现光束斯托克斯参量的快速实时测量。用实验系统测量单色平面偏振光通过光弹性样品后的斯托克斯参量,求得出射与入射偏振光的相位延迟量,再求得样品的应力值。运用该方法对有应力分布的平板玻璃和轴向受压有机玻璃进行测量并扫描成像,得到它们的应力分布图像。结果表明,该方法能够准确、快速和无损地测量光弹性样品任意位置的应力,实现对应力的实时测量。     

Concurrent measurement of linear birefringence and dichroism in ferrofluids using rotating-wave-plate Stokes polarimeter

In this study, an optical scheme based on Stokes–Mueller Formalism and rotating-wave-plate Stokes polarimeter is successfully developed for obtaining concurrent measurements of the linear birefringence and dichroism. For a quarter-wave plate sample, the measured values of the principal axis angle and retardance are found to have average absolute and normalized errors of 0.0859° and 0.76%, respectively, while the measured dichroism of the quarter-wave plate has an average value of 0.0203. When analyzing ferrofluid film samples with concentrations ranging from 2 to 6%, it was found that for a given concentration of ferrofluid, retardance increases with applied magnetic fields and tends to saturate at high levels. Additionally, under the condition of the same magnetic field, the experimental results show that retardance is proportional to the concentration; the higher concentration will result in more retardance and absorption. Consequently, the derived algorithm for concurrent measurements of the linear birefringence and dichroism is feasible, and the relation between the concentration and magneto-optical effect was successfully investigated.     

Stokes parameters measurement of light over a wide wavelength range by judicious choice of azimuthal settings of quarter-wave plate and linear polarizer

The Stokes parameters (S_p, S₁, S₂, S₃) of light are measured at an arbitrary wavelength over a wide wavelength range. The Stokes parameters S₁ and S₂ are easily obtained. But the Stokes parameter S₃ at the arbitrary wavelength is affected by the phase difference error Δ₁ of the quarter-wave plate mismatch and the Stokes parameters S₁ or S₂. Therefore, in this paper, S₃ is obtained from both the intensity measurements by the circular polarizer rotating the quarter-wave plate by 0° and 90°. Then, S₃ is obtained by considering only Δ₁, but is not affected by S₁ and S₂. Also, though Δ₁ is not accounted for, S₃ is measured more accurately.     

电子束极化度测量仪及基电子学系统的研制

介绍了研制成功的电子束极化度测量仪的基本原理、结构及其电子学测量系统，该系统基于PC机的数据获取和处理，并实现了整个实验过程的自动控制，作为对电子束极化度测量仪及电子学测量系统性能的检验，实验测量了线偏振光相对Stokes参数，测量结果表明整个系统具有测量精度高、结构紧凑和性能稳定的特点。     

Study on optical electron polarimeter and measurement of the relative Stokes parameters of weak light

In this paper, we present the research on an optical electron polarimeter, which is used to determine the polarization of an incident electron beam by measuring the relative Stokes parameters of the fluorescence emitted from the He gas following the impact excitation with the electron beam. The fundamental theory of the optical electron polarimeter is discussed with the 3³P→2³S transition of He. The structure and performance of the instrument are described, which are different in some aspects from previous works. The arrangement of the experiment for measuring the relative Stokes parameters of linearly polarized weak light is also investigated, which actually involves the same processes as the polarization measurement with the incident electron beam. The results obtained are in agreement with the theoretical prediction.     

Spectroscopic polarimetry with a channeled spectrum

We describe a novel method for the spectroscopic measurement of the state of polarization (SOP) of light. A pair of thick birefringent retarders is incorporated into the spectroscopic polarimeter, so the generated channeled spectrum is composed of three quasi-cosinusoidal components carrying the information about the SOP of the light that is being measured. Fourier inversion of the channeled spectrum provides significant parameters for determination of the spectrally resolved Stokes parameters of light. No mechanically movable components for polarization control or active devices for polarization modulation are used, and all the Stokes parameters can be determined at once from only the single spectrum. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by the generation of elliptically polarized light whose SOP varies with wave number.     

Polarization-Modulation Method of Bearing to а Moving Object Using Orthogonally Linearly Polarized Signals of a Radio Beacon

Russian Physics Journal - A polarization-modulation method of bearing to a moving object (MO) using orthogonally linearly polarized signals of a beacon and a rotating quarter-wave phase plate as a...     

Simultaneous measurement of optical rotation angle and retardance

In this study, an optical scheme based on Stokes-Mueller Formalism and rotating wave-plate Stokes polarimeter is successfully developed to simultaneously measure optical rotation angle and retardance. The average relative errors in the measured rotation angle and retardance of a half-wave plate which are solved by nonlinear equations of detected Stokes parameters are determined to be just 0.74% (1.16% for a perfect half-wave plate with retardance of 180°) and 0.40% respectively. The average relative error in the measured rotation angles of glucose solutions with concentrations ranging from 0 to 1.2 g/dl is determined to be 4.53% (2.98% under calibration with sample cell). From the inspection of simultaneous measurement of rotation angle and retardance in a glucose solution followed by a half-wave plate, the average relative error in the measured rotation angles of glucose solutions is determined to be 4.23% (1.81% under calibration with sample cell). The correlation coefficient between the measured rotation angle and the glucose concentration is found to be 0.99966, while the standard deviation is just 0.00357°, and the average relative error in the measured retardance of a half-wave plate is determined to be just 0.47%. Consequently, the derived algorithm for simultaneously measuring rotation angle and retardance is feasible, and the developed system is evaluated with a precision of 10% approximately in rotation angle and a high precision of 0.0032% in retardance measurement.     

Optimization of retardance for a complete Stokes polarimeter

We present two figures of merit based on singular value decomposition, which can be used to assess the noise immunity of a complete Stokes polarimeter. These are used to optimize a polarimeter featuring a rotatable retarder and a fixed polarizer. A retardance of 132 degrees (approximately three-eighths wave) and retarder orientation angles of +/-51.7 degrees and +/-15.1 degrees are found to be optimal when four measurements are used. Use of this retardance affords a factor-of-1.5 improvement in signal-to-noise ratio over systems employing a quarter-wave plate. A geometric means of visualizing the optimization process is discussed, and the advantages of the use of additional measurements are investigated. No advantage of using retarder orientation angles spaced uniformly through 360 degrees is found over repeated measurements made at the four retarder orientation angles.     

Real-time measurement of the fast axis angle of a quarter-wave plate based on simultaneous phase shifting technique

Real-time measurement of the fast axis angle of a quarter-wave plate based on simultaneous phase shifting technique is presented. The simultaneous phase shifting function is realized by an orthogonal grating, a diaphragm, an analyzer array, and a 4-quadrant detector. The intensities of the light beams from the four analyzers with different azimuths are measured simultaneously. The fast axis angle of the quarter-wave plate is obtained through the four light intensity values. In this method, rotating elements are not required, so real-time measurement is achieved.     

Reconstruction of the probability density function by means of the degree of polarization for one-photon mixed states

In this paper the authors discuss an alternative way for reconstructing one-photon mixed states of a partially polarized optical field. The task is to represent the probability density distribution describing these kind of states with the Stokes parameters which also characterize the effective state of polarization. These parameters can be measured by means of the degree of polarization with an experimental setup containing a rotating linear polarizer and a circular polarizer. A thought experiment is presented which assumes that the measurement is undertaken on an analyzed beam coupled with a reference beam containing photons polarized in a well-known way. The method discussed in the paper is an alternative for the most commonly used quantum tomography approach.     

分振幅型全Stokes同时偏振成像系统波片相位延迟误差分析

分振幅型全Stokes同时偏振成像仪具有实时性好、空间分辨率高、精度高等优点,有很高的应用价值.分振幅型全Stokes同时偏振成像系统利用偏振分束器、1/2波片和1/4波片将入射光Stokes矢量调制在4幅图像中,可解析入射光Stokes矢量. 1/2波片和1/4波片的相位延迟误差对Stokes矢量测量精度有着不可忽略的影响.建立了包含上述两种误差的Stokes矢量测量误差方程,分析了1/2波片和1/4波片相位延迟耦合误差对自然光、0°/45°线偏光、左旋圆偏光等典型基态入射光的Stokes矢量测量误差的影响,推导了任意偏振态的Stokes矢量测量误差的表征方法.在邦加球球面和球内选取不同偏振度的Stokes矢量作为入射光进行仿真.结果表明, Stokes矢量测量误差和偏振度测量误差均随着入射光偏振度的增大而增大.选取入射光偏振度为1时的偏振测量精度评估系统.为满足2%的偏振测量精度, 1/2波片相位延迟误差应在±1.6°内, 1/4波片相位延迟误差应在±0.5°内.这对提高系统的偏振测量精度具有重要意义,为系统设计和研制提供了重要的理论指导.     

Allowance for the imperfection of optical elements and inaccuracy in the initial adjustment of the rotating phase plate in a stokes polarimeter

For a Stokes polarimeter with a rotating phase plate, formulas were obtained for calculating the polarization characteristics and their systematic errors caused by the departure of the anisotropy parameters of the optical elements used from ideal ones and also by the deflection of the initial position of the phase plate "fast" axis from the analyzer transmission axis. The manifestation of the mentioned factors in the systematic errors of determining the polarization characteristics of radiation of different forms of polarization is considered. The results of model calculations have been confirmed by experimental data. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 382–386, May–June, 2000. This work was carried out with partial support from the Belarusian Foundation for Fundamental Research (project F97-184).     

Determination of the Mueller-Stokes matrix using fourier analysis

A general Fourier analysis of the Stokes parameters used for extracting the Mueller-Stokes matrix elements is made. The analysis shows that by using an elliptically polarized beam in conjunction with a rotating half-wave plate only a d.c. and fourth harmonic terms arise whose coefficients are the Mueller-Stokes matrix elements.     

用Stokes参量法实现数字同轴偏振全息的研究

提出了一种基于Stokes参量的数字同轴偏振全息方法.在实验中用一束线偏振光和一束椭圆偏振光作为参考光, 分别与物光进行干涉,通过拍摄在两个相互垂直方向上的全息图,计算出物光在这两个方向的振幅和相位信息, 从而得到物光的Stokes参量和物体的全偏振信息,实现对各向异性物体偏振态空间分布的图像重建. 实验结果表明,该方法可用于物体的全偏振特性的测量.这种方法在求出物光Stokes参量的同时, 也可消除零级像和共轭像的干扰,因此也可用于同轴或离轴全息.     

Measurement of linear birefringence using a rotating-wave-plate Stokes polarimeter

In this study, a compact polarimeter is developed to measure the linear birefringence property of optical materials. The principal axis angle and the retardance are obtained by a simple signal-processing algorithm, which is derived via Stokes parameters extractions when using an incident light linearly polarized at 45°. There exists an absolute error of 0.0296° on average in the principal axis angle measurement and a relative error of 2.54% in the retardance measurement of a quarter-wave-plate sample with its principal axis ranging from −40° to 40°. The standard deviations for the principal axis angle and retardance measurements are determined to be 0.015° and 0.018°, respectively, while one standard deviation to the average value of the principal axis angle and retardance, respectively, are just 0.066% and 0.020% with high repeatability, and corresponding dynamic ranges of −45° to 45° and −180° to 180°, respectively. Consequently, the developed polarimeter has a potential in linear birefringence measurement, especially in the retardance measurement.     

Achromatic polarimeter

A polarimeter for measuring complete state of polarization of light in a wide spectral range is investigated. The light beam to be analyzed propagates through a continuously rotating first-phase plate; then through a continuously rotating second-phase plate; and, passing through a stationary linear polarizer, is incident on a detector. The time dependence of the intensity of the light beam that propagated though the polarizer is recorded. Fourier analysis of the periodic time dependence of the intensity yields the state of polarization of the light, which is characterized by four Stokes parameters. It is shown that the relation between the rotational velocities of the two phase plates and their thicknesses can be chosen such that the working range of the polarimeter would be limited only by the transparency range of the birefringent material of the phase plates, the working range of the linear polarizer, and that of the detector.     

Laser goniophotometric stokes polarimeter

An automated Stokes polarimeter of the dynamic type is created to measure the polarization characteristics of radiation emitted, reflected, and scattered by objects at different angles to a surface. An analysis of the versions of processing of measurement resuls has shown that the dependence of a random error in determination of the parameters on the number of positions N of a quarter-wave plate, at which the radiation intensity is measured, is of a similar nature as the dependence on the number of independent measurements of the same quantity . B. I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 68 Skorina Ave., Minsk., 220072, Belarus, e-mail: tsaruk@dragon.bas-net.by. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 6, pp. 869–874, November–December, 1999.     

A study of the properties of erythrocytes with polarized light under hypotonic conditions

We consider the application of polarized radiation to the study of the properties of blood and erythrocyte suspensions, including the case of disturbance of the osmotic balance in the erythrocyte-surrounding-medium system. We study experimentally erythrocyte suspensions prepared by diluting whole donor blood with autoplasma, serum, and NaCl aqueous solutions of different concentrations. The Stokes parameters of scattered radiation have been measured with a Stokes polarimeter using a He-Ne laser as a source of linearly or elliptically polarized radiation (λ = 0.63 μm). We show that, upon illumination of erythrocyte suspensions with linearly or circularly polarized radiation, the Stokes parameters of the scattered radiation are highly sensitive to changes in the shape and size of erythrocytes upon hypotonic swelling.