Analysis of experimental errors in Mueller matrix channeled polarimeters

Area of Science:

• Optical Physics
• Spectroscopy
• Polarimetry

Background:

• Mueller matrix channeled spectropolarimeters (MMCS) offer snapshot capabilities, independent of temporal resolution.
• Understanding the impact of experimental errors and noise is crucial for optimizing MMCS performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the effects of experimental errors and measurement noise on MMCS performance.
• To investigate the sensitivity of MMCS setups to various configurations and error sources.
• To present simulations of MMCS with experimental errors and evaluate Mueller matrix extraction methods.

Main Methods:

• Simulated a Mueller matrix channeled spectropolarimeter (MMCS) setup, including a mirrored Stokes channeled spectropolarimeter (SCS) for polarization states generation (PSG) and another SCS for polarization states analysis (PSA).
• The SCS configuration involved two thick birefringent retarders and a horizontal linear polarizer.
• Studied the impact of retarder thickness ratio, global retardance factor, retardance errors, axes alignment errors, and Gaussian noise.

Main Results:

• Quantified the influence of retarder thickness ratio, retardance errors, axes alignment errors, and Gaussian noise on MMCS measurements.
• Evaluated the performance of two published Mueller matrix extraction methods under simulated error conditions.
• Identified key parameters affecting the sensitivity and accuracy of the MMCS.

Conclusions:

• The study provides insights into the robustness of MMCS to experimental imperfections.
• Optimization of MMCS configurations can mitigate the effects of errors and noise.
• Further research may focus on incorporating calibration procedures to enhance measurement precision.