Noise minimization and equalization for Stokes polarimeters in the presence of signal-dependent Poisson shot noise

摘要

We address the optimization of Stokes polarimeters in the presence of signal-dependent shot noise, which isnthe dominant type of noise in certain imaging systems. We show that in some precise sense, the polarimetersnoptimal for additive noise are also optimal for such noise and propose polarimeter architectures in whichnnoise variances are equalized and independent of the input polarization state. © 2009 Optical Society ofnAmerica