Demonstration of Mueller polarimetry through an optical fiber for endoscopic applications

We present very first measurements of Mueller matrices of samples through an optical fiber, opening the way to endoscopic applications for early detection of diseases. The technique is based on measurements of both the single fiber and the assembly fiber+sample Mueller matrices. The 2m optical guide is made of two identical pieces of PM fiber spliced with crossed fast and slow axes in order to (i) minimize residual phase retardance at the output, (ii) and precisely know the eigen axes orientations. Mueller matrices of different calibrated samples are measured, leading to accurate and reliable determination of combined birefringence, diattenuation and depolarization of these samples.