| 摘要 |
<p>A procedure for self-calibration of an optical polarimeter has been developed that eliminates the need for "known" input signals to be used. The self-calibration data is taken by moving a polarization controller between several random and unknown states of polarization (SOPs) and recording the detector output values (D 0 , ..., D 3 ) for each state of polarization. These values are then used to create an "approximate" calibration matrix. In one exemplary embodiment, the SOP of the incoming signal is adjusted three times (by adjusting a separate polarization controller element, for example), creating a set of four detector output values for each of the four polarizations states of the incoming signal - an initial calibration matrix. The first row of this initial calibration matrix is then adjusted to fit the power measurements using a least squares fit. In the third and final step, the remaining elements of the calibration matrix are adjusted to a given constraint (for example, DOP=100% for all SOPs).</p> |
