Snapshot spectropolarimeter based on a six-fold separating prism operating from 360 nm to 1 µm

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Polarimetry
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Simultaneous measurement of spectral and polarimetric information is crucial for many scientific fields.
• Existing instruments often face limitations in speed, resolution, or the number of polarization states measured.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel spectropolarimeter capable of simultaneously measuring six spectra with polarimetric information.
• To present the design, operation, and performance of this new instrument and its key component, a polarization-separating prism.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel six-fold polarization-separating prism.
• Integration of the prism with an imaging spectrometer and a 2D CMOS camera.
• Characterization of the instrument's polarimetric accuracy, spectral resolution, and noise levels.

Main Results:

• The spectropolarimeter successfully separates light to simultaneously measure six spectra with polarimetric data.
• Achieved polarimetric accuracy of a few 10^-3 and spectral resolution as low as 2 nm.
• Demonstrated the instrument's capability for informative snapshots and high-resolution spectropolarimetric measurements.

Conclusions:

• The developed spectropolarimeter offers a powerful new tool for scientific research.
• The novel polarization-separating prism has broad potential applications in various scientific domains.
• The instrument provides high-accuracy, high-resolution, simultaneous spectropolarimetric measurements.