Electrically Controllable Polarization Element

This letter proposes an optical setup that is equivalent to an electrically controllable polarization element (ECPE). The principal axis of the ECPE can be changed by applying an electric signal on an electro-optic device of this setup. This ECPE can be applied for rotating a linear polarizer or a linear phase retarder with arbitrary phase retardation and can be operated at much higher rotation speed than the mechanical rotation. In contrast, the typical rotation speed of a mechanically rotating polarization element is ~100 Hz. The highest rotation speed of the ECPE is determined by the highest modulation frequency at which an electro-optic device can be correctly operated, which can range across several hertz to 300 kHz.