An achromatic polarization retarder realized with slowly varying linear and circular birefringence

TL;DR

This paper proposes an achromatic polarization retarder device that uses linear and circular birefringence phenomena to convert and manipulate elliptical polarization states, inspired by quantum adiabatic following.

Contribution

It introduces a novel device design that achieves frequency-insensitive polarization control through a linear and circular birefringence analogy.

Findings

Device can convert elliptical to circular polarization

Achieves broadband, frequency-insensitive operation

Inspired by quantum adiabatic following principles

Abstract

Using the phenomena of linear and circular birefringence we propose a device that can alter general elliptical polarization of a beam by a predetermined amount, thereby allowing conversion between linearly-polarized light and circularly polarized light or changes to the handedness of the polarization. Based on an analogy with two-state adiabatic following of quantum optics, the proposed device is insensitive to the frequency of the light -- it serves as an achromatic polarization retarder.