Polarimeter design for a nitrogen laser source.
The system uses a Brewster angle reflector as a passive amplifier. This device reduces intensity without causing a serious reduction in either the signal of interest or the signal-to-noise ratio. It also reduces the need for a high quality analyser. However, polariser quality is critical and determines the background light level at the detector. The present work allowed shot-noise-limited operation to be attained. However full optimization was not achieved because of excessive background transmission at optimum alignment.
Stephens
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Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada B3H 4J3.