Patent ID: 6765672
Filing Date: 2004-07-20
Classification: G01J,G02B,G02F

Abstract:
A Stokes polarimeter comprising:a rotatable waveplate receiving an optical signal and comprising a variable birefringent material; a polarizer optically downstream from the rotatable waveplate receiving the optical signal from an output of the rotatable waveplate; a photodetector optically downstream from the polarizer receiving the optical signal from an output of the polarizer and generating intensity measurements characterizing the optical signal; and, a computing device performing Stokes calculations based on terms A, B, C, and D related to the intensity measurements; wherein said computing device is programmed to calculate terms A, B, C, and D substantially as follows: A=1Ï€&it;&Integral;02&it;Ï€&it;I&af;(Î¸)&it;â€ƒ&it;&dd;Î¸;B=2Ï€&it;&Integral;02&it;Ï€&it;I&af;(Î¸)&it;â€ƒ&it;sin&af;(2&it;Î¸)&it;&dd;Î¸;C=2Ï€&it;&Integral;02&it;Ï€&it;I&af;(Î¸)&it;â€ƒ&it;cos&af;(4&it;Î¸)&it;&dd;Î¸;â€ƒ&it;andD=2Ï€&it;&Integral;02&it;Ï€&it;I&af;(Î¸)&it;â€ƒ&it;sin&af;(4&it;Î¸)&it;&dd;Î¸;where I is an intensity measurement made at angle &thgr;.