Quantitative Mueller matrix microscope: theory, equipment, calibration, and applications

摘要

We develop a modulus Mueller matrix microscope by adding polarization state generator and analyzer (PSG and PSA) to a commercial transmission optical microscope. The microscope is calibrated to minimize errors of the Mueller matrix elements to 0.01. Preliminary experimental results on biological tissues and different materials and Monte Carlo simulations show that the microscope can provide quantitative information on the characteristic microstructural features of complex samples, which make it a potentially powerful tool in clinical diagnosis and material studies.