title: Comparison of quarter-wave retarders over finite spectral and angular bandwidths for infrared polarimetric-imaging applications.
abstract: We compare three technological approaches for quarter-wave retarders within the context of polarimetric-imaging applications in the long-wave infrared (LWIR) spectrum. Performance of a commercial cadmium sulfide (CdS) crystalline waveplate, a multilayer meanderline structure, and a silicon (Si) form-birefringent retarder are evaluated under conditions of 8-12 μm broadband radiation emerging from an F/1 focusing objective. Metrics used for this comparison are the spectrally dependent axial ratio, retardance, and polarization-averaged power transmittance, which are averaged over the angular range of interest. These parameters correspond to the characteristics that would be observed at the focal-plane array (FPA) detector of an LWIR imaging polarimeter.
authors.affiliation: CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA. samuel.l.wadsworth@saic.com
authors.forename: Samuel L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wadsworth
authors.forename: Glenn D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Boreman