Optimized Stokes imaging for highly resolved optical speckle fields, Part II: optimal acquisition and estimation...

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Polarimetry
• Statistical Optics

Background:

• Stokes polarimetry is crucial for characterizing light polarization.
• Optical speckle fields present unique challenges for polarimetric measurements at the grain scale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish optimal sensing, estimation, and processing strategies for Stokes polarimetry of optical speckle fields.
• To evaluate the performance of the state of polarization analysis by full projection on the Poincaré space (SOPAFP) approach.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical study utilizing numerical simulations.
• Optimization of the SOPAFP approach for enhanced estimation performance.
• Comparative analysis against classical Stokes polarimetry methods.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated optimization of the SOPAFP approach for superior estimation performance.
• SOPAFP shows enhanced robustness against experimental imperfections compared to classical methods.
• Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategies.

Conclusions:

• The optimized SOPAFP approach provides a robust and accurate method for Stokes polarimetry of speckle fields.
• This work establishes best practices for high-precision polarimetric measurements in complex optical fields.
• The findings are critical for applications requiring detailed polarization analysis of scattered light.