Attenuation characteristics of a light attenuator combined by polarizers with different extinction ratios

Abstract

This paper deals with a systematical analysis and an algorithm of attenuation characteristics of a light attenuator combined by n pieces of polarizers (n-LACP) whose extinction ratios are different from each other. The attenuation ratio expression of a two-LACP is deduced. We find that the monotonic attenuation interval depends on the first polarizer and that the attenuation range depends on the second one. For the three-LACP, a method for obtaining a monotonic attenuation interval is proposed. Moreover, the attenuation ratio expression is demonstrated. Analysis and experiment show that when the initial status of the three-LACP is at the maximum output, if the second or third polarizer rotates alone, the minimum attenuation ratios can reach K −1 2 and K −1 3 , respectively, and if the first polarizer rotates, a minimum attenuation ratio of K −1 2 K −1 3 can be obtained (K 1 , K 2 and K 3 represent the extinction ratios of the three polarizers in turn). Furthermore, the attenuation ratio expression of n-LACP and the relevant attenuation characteristics are proposed. The minimum attenuation ratio of an n-LACP is (

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