Parameter Calibration of Rotating Wave Plate Polarization Detection Device Using Dual Beams

When measuring Stokes parameters using the rotating wave plate method, the angle error of the polarizer's light transmission axis, the azimuth error of the wave plate's fast axis, and the phase delay error are key factors restricting accuracy. To address the existing calibration methods' insufficient accuracy and incomplete consideration of the error parameters, this study constructed an error-transfer analytical model for an in-depth analysis of the principle of measuring Stokes parameters using the rotating wave plate method. It also clarified the quantitative parameter relationship between the measurement, wave plate, and polarizer errors. A device parameter calibration scheme using multi-angle polarized light (horizontally linearly polarized, [1,1,0,0]^T, and 45° linearly polarized, [1,0,1,0]^T) was further proposed, and by using the deviation between the theoretical response of the standard incident light and the actual measurement data, an error equation was established to solve the device parameter error and precisely calibrate the polarization detection device. The experimental results show that after using this method, the calibration error of the Stokes parameters decreased from 4.83% to within 0.46%, significantly overcoming the traditional methods' limitations regarding incomplete consideration of the error parameters and accuracy improvement, providing a more concise and reliable method for high-precision polarization measurement.