Measurement of polarization and applications

We present a polarization measuring system which is capable to determine the complete, Stokes vector of radiation with a wavelength from deep ultraviolet (i.e. 190 nm) to the visible spectral range. Due to a special design the entire wavelength range is covered by one single device (i.e. no exchange of optical components is necessary). In addition the system is able to determine the Jones and the Mueller matrices of lenses, waveplates and other samples automatically and spatially resolved within the same wavelength region. The system consists of a polarization state generator and a polarization sensitive detector consisting of a rotating waveplate, a polarizer, and a detector. A fast Fourier algorithm provides the four Stokes parameters of the light where all parameters are calculated independently. By tuning the polarization of the illuminating light we calculate the Jones matrix and the birefringence of the sample. Under industrial conditions we found an accuracy of the stress birefringence of 0.1 nm and an accuracy of the azimuth of the fast axis of 0.1/spl deg/. Because polarization is a very important property of radiation, the system has a lot of applications. Examples are the testing of optical elements like waveplates, polarizers and lens system.