Simple Self-calibrating Polarimeter for Measuring the Stokes Parameters of Light

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple, self-calibrating rotating-waveplate polarimeter that accurately measures the Stokes parameters of light while being insensitive to intensity fluctuations, with applications in high-precision polarization measurements.

Contribution

It presents a novel self-calibrating polarimeter design that reduces calibration time and measurement uncertainty for precise polarization analysis.

Findings

Effective in measuring spatial polarization variations.

Achieves polarization measurement accuracy of 0.1% (circular) and 0.4% (linear).

Suitable for high-intensity laser applications.

Abstract

A simple, self-calibrating, rotating-waveplate polarimeter is largely insensitive to light intensity fluctuations and is shown to be useful for determining the Stokes parameters of light. This study shows how to minimize the in situ self-calibration time, the measurement time and the measurement uncertainty. The suggested methods are applied to measurements of spatial variations in the linear and circular polarizations of laser light passing through glass plates with a laser intensity dependent birefringence. These are crucial measurements for the ACME electron electric dipole measurements, requiring accuracies in circular and linear polarization fraction of about 0.1% and 0.4%, with laser intensities up to 100 $\text{mW/mm}^2$ incident into the polarimeter.