Fast and optimal broad-band Stokes/Mueller polarimeter design by the use of a genetic algorithm

TL;DR

This paper presents a genetic algorithm-based method to design a fast, broad-band Stokes/Mueller polarimeter with no moving parts, achieving near-optimal performance across 430-2000 nm and significantly reducing measurement noise.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optimization approach using genetic algorithms to design dispersive, broadband polarimeters with improved performance and extended spectral range.

Findings

Achieved up to 4.5 times reduction in measurement noise.

Designed polarimeters using 2 and 3 Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals.

Extended spectral range from 430 to 2000 nm.

Abstract

A fast multichannel Stokes/Mueller polarimeter with no mechanically moving parts has been designed to have close to optimal performance from 430-2000 nm by applying a genetic algorithm. Stokes (Mueller) polarimeters are characterized by their ability to analyze the full Stokes (Mueller) vector (matrix) of the incident light. This ability is characterized by the condition number, $\kappa$, which directly influences the measurement noise in polarimetric measurements. Due to the spectral dependence of the retardance in birefringent materials, it is not trivial to design a polarimeter using dispersive components. We present here both a method to do this optimization using a genetic algorithm, as well as simulation results. Our results include fast, broad-band polarimeter designs for spectrographic use, based on 2 and 3 Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals, whose material properties are taken from measured values. The results promise to reduce the measurement noise significantly over previous designs, up to a factor of 4.5 for a Mueller polarimeter, in addition to extending the spectral range.