Polarimeter

摘要

The state of polarization of an input light beam is tested by determining four components of a Stokes vector of the light. These correspond to components of the light in three polarization states, S1: linear horizontal, S2: linear at 45 degrees, S3: right circularly polarized, and S0 the total power. It is not necessary to filter out these components directly and measure their powers. In accordance with this invention it is more convenient to measure the powers in three arbitrary polarization states that have known relationships to each other, and, also measure the total power. The actual Stokes vector components is calculated from this information. Conveniently, a device having three polarization beam splitting surfaces and a prism provides a novel way in which to obtain the necessary information from an input beam so that a set of equations can be solved to determine the state of polarization the input beam.