ANGULAR-DEPENDENCE OF POLARIZING BEAM-SPLITTER CUBES

The field-of-view dependence of polarizing beam-splitter cubes has bee n studied to characterize their behavior in imaging systems such as op tical computers and optical correlators and in other applications that involve noncollimated light. Significant polarization aberration is p resent in polarizing beam-splitter cubes for two reasons: (1) the s- a nd p-component orientations, which define the polarizing axes, at the beam-splitting interface vary with the direction of propagation, and ( 2) the performance of the coating is a function of the angle of incide nce. We describe the polarization aberration of a polarizing beam-spli tter cube in terms of its diattenuation (polarizing efficiency). We us e an imaging polarimeter to measure six figures of merit for three pol arizing beam-splitter cubes demonstrating typical polarization aberrat ions. Finally, we derive the Mueller matrix for a polarizing beam-spli tter cube in terms of the s and p transmittance and reflectance and th e phase retardances, the parameters generally calculated with thin-fil m analysis programs.