Performance analysis of a spectropolarimeter employing a continuous phase variation

Area of Science:

• Optical physics
• Polarimetry
• Instrument design

Background:

• Light polarization provides valuable environmental information.
• Accurate polarization measurement instruments are challenging, especially for harsh environments like space.
• A novel compact, steady polarimeter design was previously introduced for single-shot Stokes vector measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the quality of instrumental matrices in a novel polarimeter design under varying optical characteristics.
• To analyze error propagation and the impact of noise on polarimetric measurements.
• To determine the theoretical sensitivity limits of Stokes parameters based on optimal instrumental matrix shapes.

Main Methods:

• Simulations of a compact polarimeter design.
• Analysis of instrumental matrix modulation efficiency.
• Investigation of error propagation and noise effects.
• Assessment of optical system characteristics (pixel size, wavelength, pixel count).

Main Results:

• Instrumental matrices demonstrated high modulation efficiency in initial simulations.
• Matrices were found to converge towards an optimal shape across different optical characteristics.
• Error propagation and noise impact were quantified, revealing their influence on measurement quality.

Conclusions:

• The compact polarimeter design shows robust performance with instrumental matrices converging to an optimal configuration.
• The study establishes theoretical limits for Stokes parameter sensitivity.
• This work advances the development of robust polarimetry for challenging environments.