title: Measurement of the Stokes parameters of light.
abstract: We describe a measuring system for determining the state of polarization of a beam of light in terms of its Stokes parameters. The technique which can be fully automated incorporates a monochromator and single photon counting detection and can thus be applied over a large wavelength range for very weak optical signals. Fourier transformation of the data by an on-line minicomputer allows immediate calculation of the Stokes parameters. We discuss special applications to light emitted from excited atomic systems with and without cylindrical symmetry.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gabrielse
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Livingston