POLARIZATION MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER AS A GLOBAL POLARIZATION STATE GENERATOR AND FOR MEASUREMENT OF THE COHERENCE AND SPECTRAL PROPERTIESOF QUASI-MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT

For a quasimonochromatic light source with a known spectrum, the polar ization Michelson interferometer (POLMINT) can be used as a global pol arization state generator that produces totally or partially polarized light at its output in states of known degree of polarization that co rrespond to points on and within the Poincare sphere. Conversely, the spectral and coherence properties of a quasimonochromatic source can b e determined from the Stokes parameters of light at the output of the POLMINT measured by a complete polarization state detector as function s of a mirror displacement. Applications of the POLMINT as an ellipsom eter are also discussed.