Star test image-sampling polarimeter.
We present an analysis and test of an image sampling polarimeter based on the concept of Star Test Polarimetry first introduced by Ramkhalawon. The method makes use of a stress engineered optical element (SEO) placed in the pupil plane of an optical system to induce a polarization dependent point spread function (PSF) at the detector. We describe the calibration requirements of the polarimeter and introduce a new algorithm that can robustly extract the Stokes parameters in a single irradiance measurement. By acquiring statistics on the sampled Stokes parameters of a uniformly illuminated pinhole array, we show that a single frame can provide a root mean square angular error of approximately 10 milliradians on the Poincaré sphere.
Brandon G
BG
Zimmerman
Thomas G
TG
Brown