title: Shot-noise limit for optical polarimeters.
abstract: The methods of Jones's calculus are used to derive expressions for the signal-to-noise ratio in polarimetric measurements. The formulae show that in shot-noise limited systems there is an optimum angle between the polarization planes of the polarizer and analyser and that, once this angle is employed, the signal-to-noise ratio of the system cannot be appreciably improved by improving the quality (i.e, lowering the extinction ratio) of the polarizers used. The main way to improve the signal-to-noise ratio is to use an intense light source, large optical aperture and a long integration time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, SF-20500 Turku 50, Finland.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kankare
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stephens