Revealing complex optical phenomena through vectorial metrics

Abstract

Advances in vectorial polarization-resolved imaging are bringing new capabilities to applications ranging from fundamental physics through to clinical diagnosis. Imaging polarimetry requires determination of the Mueller matrix (MM) at every point, providing a complete description of an object's vectorial properties. Despite forming a comprehensive representation, the MM does not usually provide easily interpretable information about the object's internal structure. Certain simpler vectorial metrics are derived from subsets of the MM elements. These metrics permit extraction of signatures that provide direct indicators of hidden optical properties of complex systems, while featuring an intriguing asymmetry about what information can or cannot be inferred via these metrics. We harness such characteristics to reveal the spin Hall effect of light, infer microscopic structure within laser-written photonic waveguides, and conduct rapid pathological diagnosis through analysis of healthy and cancerous tissue. This provides new insight for the broader usage of such asymmetric inferred vectorial information.

Analyzing the Influence of Imaging Resolution on Polarization Properties of Scattering Media Obtained From Mueller Matrix

“…The Mueller matrix, which characterizes the change of polarization state of light after light–matter interaction, contains rich microstructural information about the medium ( Chen et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ). However, it is often difficult to obtain specific microstructural information through individual Mueller matrix elements ( He et al, 2022 ; Li et al, 2022 ). To further disentangle the information encoded in the Mueller matrix, the Mueller matrix polar decomposition (MMPD) method ( Lu and Chipman, 1996 ; Ghosh et al, 2008 ) was proposed and prevalently used in the biomedical studies ( Morio and Goudail, 2004 ) to derive a group of polarization parameters with clear physical meanings.…”

Towards higher-dimensional structured light

“…While refractive solutions have lost popularity of late, recent developments in free-form optics have given new impetuses to this direction, with unprecedented control possible 81 , even for miniature on-wafer elements through direct laser writing 82 . Even simple refractive elements can be tailored for vectorial light, as has been elegantly shown with glass cones 83 and GRIN lens 84 , 85 , common elements in most optical laboratories and making clear that customised light does not always need customised tools.…”

Optimal Configurations of Mueller Polarimeter for Gaussian–Poisson Mixed Noise

“…where θ is the angle of fast axis and δ is the retardance. We can accurately calculate the polarization state of polarized light after passing through a retarder by the Mueller Matrix in Equation (7). However, if we need to generate a special polarization state, it will be complex to choose the incident polarization state or retarder's angle and retardance.…”

“…The Mueller matrix can provide complete polarization properties of samples, which are related to their microstructural features [1]. Benefitting from this, a series of Mueller matrix imaging techniques have been developed for different applications, such as material characterization [2,3] and the microstructure of biological tissue measurement [4][5][6][7][8]. Among the available applications, measurement accuracy is always a top concern because precise Mueller matrix measurement can provide more detailed polarization features of samples.…”