Measurement of the Stokes parameters of light

Abstract

We describe a measuring system for determining the state of polarization of a beam of light in terms of its Stokes parameters. The technique which can be fully automated incorporates a monochromator and single photon counting detection and can thus be applied over a large wavelength range for very weak optical signals. Fourier transformation of the data by an on-line minicomputer allows immediate calculation of the Stokes parameters. We discuss special applications to light emitted from excited atomic systems with and without cylindrical symmetry.

Using coherence to enhance function in chemical and biophysical systems

“…The challenge comes down to how to reconstruct essential features of a wavefunction by a series of measurements of observables. For example, even for a simple light wave, four carefully referenced unique measurements of the transmitted intensity of a light beam through various polarizers and waveplates are needed to measure the polarization state 30 . That inspires a strategy for characterizing quantum superpositions 31 .…”

Measurement of the polarization state of light using an integrated plasmonic polarimeter

“…Such an integrated plasmonic polarimeter enables an accurate measurement of the complete state of polarization of light. Whereas conventional polarimetry approaches rely on the use of large optical components such as rotating polarizers and retardation wave plates, [12,13] this work shows that a compact platform can achieve the same functions. This work adds to a growing body of literature where plasmonic elements can be integrated with semiconductor elements to produce photodetectors with enhanced optical responses, integration advantages, or new, built-in optical functionalities [14 -17] .…”

Review article: Wave analysis methods for space plasma experiment

“…Using the Stokes parameters (Stokes, 1852;Berry et al, 1977), the perpendicular fluctuating magnetic fields (to the mean magnetic field) can be decomposed into a set of circularly polarized waves (Fig. 6).…”