Abstract
A partial Mueller matrix polarimeter using two photoelastic modulators and polarizer pairs is introduced. Photoelastic modulators (PEMs) are commonly used in various kinds of polarization measurement techniques for many years for example polarimetry and ellipsometry. The advantage of instruments that works using PEMs is the high-sensitivity and high-speed measurement of polarization properties due to its light modulation by specific resonant frequency. A polarized light beam passing through the center of the fused silica bar will experience a periodic phase retardation because of the photoelastic effect which is the basis operation of PEM. In the two PEM-polarizer pairs, Mueller matrix elements of a sample are determined based on the analysis of the frequencies of the time-dependent light beam. Each PEM is operated at different resonant frequencies of 59.85 kHz and 50.07 kHz and are oriented 45° apart. Mueller algebra is used to analyze the optical configuration of the proposed system. The changing variables inside the proposed system will be only the orientations of the azimuthal angle of polarizer and analyzer whereas orientations for both PEMs are fixed.
