Mueller imaging polarimetry of holographic polarization gratings inscribed in azopolymer films.
Three types of polarization gratings have been recorded in azopolymer films by the symmetrical superposition of different orthogonal pairs of polarized beams. The inscribed holographic elements have been analyzed microscopically in a Mueller polarimeter in order to image the optical anisotropies photoinduced in the film. In the most of cases, the spatial modulation of diattenuation, birefringence, and optical rotation reproduced quite well previous results reported in the literature. Nevertheless, in the particular case of coherent superposition of p- and s-polarized beams, the spatial frequency for optical rotation (related to the Stokes parameter V) was different from the one observed in linear anisotropy (related to the Stokes parameter U). It is shown by theory and experiment that, in the polarized field used to record this polarization grating, the fourth-Stokes parameter changes sign, which implies a change in circular polarization handedness, practically once between two adjacent maxima.
Geminiano
G
Martinez-Ponce