Measurement of the Stokes parameters of light
TL;DR: A measuring system for determining the state of polarization of a beam of light in terms of its Stokes parameters which can be fully automated incorporates a monochromator and single photon counting detection and can be applied over a large wavelength range for very weak optical signals.
Abstract: We describe a measuring system for determining the state of polarization of a beam of light in terms of its Stokes parameters. The technique which can be fully automated incorporates a monochromator and single photon counting detection and can thus be applied over a large wavelength range for very weak optical signals. Fourier transformation of the data by an on-line minicomputer allows immediate calculation of the Stokes parameters. We discuss special applications to light emitted from excited atomic systems with and without cylindrical symmetry.
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TL;DR: Spin precession measurements in the polar molecule thorium monoxide indicate a nearly spherical charge distribution of an electron, which constrains T-violating physics at the TeV energy scale.
Abstract: The Standard Model of particle physics is known to be incomplete. Extensions to the Standard Model, such as weak-scale supersymmetry, posit the existence of new particles and interactions that are asymmetric under time reversal (T) and nearly always predict a small yet potentially measurable electron electric dipole moment (EDM), d(e), in the range of 10(-27) to 10(-30) e·cm. The EDM is an asymmetric charge distribution along the electron spin (S(→)) that is also asymmetric under T. Using the polar molecule thorium monoxide, we measured d(e) = (-2.1 ± 3.7stat ± 2.5syst) × 10(-29) e·cm. This corresponds to an upper limit of |d(e)| < 8.7 × 10(-29) e·cm with 90% confidence, an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity relative to the previous best limit. Our result constrains T-violating physics at the TeV energy scale.
1,040 citations
Princeton University1, University of California, Berkeley2, Argonne National Laboratory3, Northwestern University4, Harvard University5, University of Freiburg6, Boston University7, University of Chicago8, VU University Amsterdam9, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Japan10, University of Colorado Boulder11, University of Ottawa12, Michigan State University13, University of California, Irvine14, University of Michigan15, University College London16, Temple University17, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory18, Columbia University19
TL;DR: The state of recent discoveries is surveyed, viewpoints that suggest that coherence can be used in complex chemical systems are presented, and the role of coherence as a design element in realizing function is discussed.
Abstract: Coherence phenomena arise from interference, or the addition, of wave-like amplitudes with fixed phase differences. Although coherence has been shown to yield transformative ways for improving function, advances have been confined to pristine matter and coherence was considered fragile. However, recent evidence of coherence in chemical and biological systems suggests that the phenomena are robust and can survive in the face of disorder and noise. Here we survey the state of recent discoveries, present viewpoints that suggest that coherence can be used in complex chemical systems, and discuss the role of coherence as a design element in realizing function.
502 citations
TL;DR: Two figures of merit based on singular value decomposition are presented, which can be used to assess the noise immunity of a complete Stokes polarimeter, used to optimize a polarimeter featuring a rotatable retarder and a fixed polarizer.
Abstract: The authors present two figures of merit based on singular value decomposition which can be used to assess the noise immunity of a complete Stokes polarimeter. These are used to optimize a polarimeter consisting of a rotatable retarder and fixed polarizer. A retardance of 132{degree} (approximately three eights wave) and retarder orientation angles of {+-}51.7{degree} and {+-}15.1{degree} are found to be optimal when four measurements are used. Use of this retardance affords a factor of 1.5 improvement in signal-to-noise ratio over systems employing a quarter wave plate. A geometric means of visualizing the optimization process is discussed, and the advantages of the use of additional measurements are investigated. No advantage of using retarder orientation angles spaced uniformly through 360{degree} is found over repeated measurements made at the four angles given previously.
345 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a high-mobility indium-doped cadmium oxide (CdO) as the gateway plasmonic material was used to realize a high quality factor Berreman-type perfect absorber at a wavelength of 2.08μm.
Abstract: Ultrafast control of the polarization state of light may enable a plethora of applications in optics, chemistry and biology. However, conventional polarizing elements, such as polarizers and waveplates, are either static or possess only gigahertz switching speeds. Here, with the aid of high-mobility indium-doped cadmium oxide (CdO) as the gateway plasmonic material, we realize a high-quality factor Berreman-type perfect absorber at a wavelength of 2.08 μm. On sub-bandgap optical pumping, the perfect absorption resonance strongly redshifts because of the transient increase of the ensemble-averaged effective electron mass of CdO, which leads to an absolute change in the p-polarized reflectance from 1.0 to 86.3%. By combining the exceedingly high modulation depth with the polarization selectivity of the perfect absorber, we experimentally demonstrate a reflective polarizer with a polarization extinction ratio of 91 that can be switched on and off within 800 fs. Indium-doped cadmium oxide performs polarization switching on a subpicosecond timescale.
240 citations
IBM1
TL;DR: In this paper, the use of an ellipsometer having the configuration PCSC'A to determine the Mueller matrix of a linear optical system S, using imperfect compensators C and C′ and linear polarizer P and analyzer A, is described.
Abstract: We describe the use of an ellipsometer having the configuration PCSC’A to determine the Mueller matrix of a linear optical system S, using imperfect compensators C and C′ and linear polarizer P and analyzer A. Two manual (16 intensity), one semiautomatic (rotating-compensator) and one fully automatic (dual rotating-compensator) methods are described. Real-time Fourier analysis (of both raw and reduced data) is used in the automatic methods to reduce random and systematic measurement errors. Calibration procedures given for each method permit Mueller matrix spectroscopy using (quasi-) achromatic retarders whose principal axes, as well as retardation and transmission ratios change slightly with wavelength.
181 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of a plate of anisotropic material such as a crystal on a collimated beam of polarized light may always be represented mathematically as a linear transformation of the components of the electric vector of the light.
Abstract: The effect of a plate of anisotropic material, such as a crystal, on a collimated beam of polarized light may always be represented mathematically as a linear transformation of the components of the electric vector of the light. The effect of a retardation plate, of an anisotropic absorber (plate of tourmaline; Polaroid sheeting), or of a crystal or solution possessing optical activity, may therefore be represented as a matrix which operates on the electric vector of the incident light. Since a plane wave of light is characterized by the phases and amplitudes of the two transverse components of the electric vector, the matrices involved are two-by-two matrices, with matrix elements which are in general complex. A general theory of optical systems containing plates of the type mentioned is developed from this point of view.
1,706 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the general theory developed in Part I and the derivation of the matrices representing two optical elements which were not treated in Parts II and III are discussed. But the discussion is limited to monoclinic and triclinic crystals which do not possess optical activity.
Abstract: Part IV is divided into two sections. The first is devoted to some additions to the general theory developed in Part I, and the second section to the derivation of the matrices representing two optical elements which were not treated in Parts II and III: (1) plates possessing circular dichroism, and (2) plates cut from crystals of such low symmetry that the principal axes of absorption and refraction are not parallel. In case (2), the discussion is limited to monoclinic and triclinic crystals which do not possess optical activity.
1,316 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new formulation for the angular distribution and the polarization of light excited by atomic and electronic collisions and modulated in time by the action of internal and external fields is presented.
Abstract: A new formulation is presented for the angular distribution and the polarization of light excited by atomic and electronic collisions and modulated in time by the action of internal and external fields. The formulation disentangles geometrical and dynamical effects and stresses the extraction of data on the alignment and orientation of radiating atoms from observations of the emitted light. The treatment is set in the context of recent experimental and theoretical literature and points to new avenues of research.
696 citations
216 citations
"Measurement of the Stokes parameter..." refers background in this paper
...(3) Circularly polarized light also has only two nonzero Stokes parameters I and S, with M = C = 0, and a single modulation is observed but with a frequency 2w, the modulation ratio being maximized for a perfect quarter waveplate with sin6 = 1 and becoming unity for 100% circularly polarized light I = S = 1....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the Stokes parameters and the Poincare sphere representation in a direct phenomenological way, and an idealized experimental procedure may illustrate the physical analysis of partial polarization.
Abstract: The methods for the convenient treatment of partial polarization are discussed. In particular, it is shown (1) how to introduce the “Stokes parameters” and the “Poincare sphere” representation in a direct phenomenological way; (2) how an idealized experimental procedure may illustrate the physical analysis of partial polarization; (3) how the Stokes parameter representation fits naturally into the quantum theory of radiation; (4) how the Stokes method applies to Compton scattering.
161 citations