Am. El-saba et al., Performance optimization and light-beam-deviation analysis of the parallel-slab division-of-amplitude photopolarimeter, APPL OPTICS, 38(13), 1999, pp. 2829-2836
A division-of-amplitude photopolarimeter that uses a parallel-slab multiple
-reflection beam splitter was described recently [Opt. Lett. 21, 1709 (1996
)]. We provide a general analysis and an optimization of a specific design
that uses a fused-silica slab that is uniformly coated with a transparent t
hin film of ZnS on the front surface and with an opaque Ag or Au reflecting
layer on the back. Multiple internal reflections within the slab give rise
to a set of parallel, equispaced, reflected beams numbered 0, 1, 2, and 3
that are intercepted by photodetectors D-0, D-1, D-2, and D-3, respectively
, to produce output electrical signals i(0), i(1), i(2), and i(3), respecti
vely. The instrument matrix A, which relates the output-signal vector I to
the input Stokes vector S by I = AS, and its determinant D are analyzed. Th
e instrument matrix A is nonsingular; hence all four Stokes parameters can
be measured simultaneously over a broad spectral range (UV-VIS-LR). The opt
imum film thickness, the optimum angle of incidence, and the effect of Ligh
t-beam deviation on the measured input Stokes parameters are considered. (C
) 1999 Optical Society of America.