Measurements of linearly birefringent media parameters using the optical vortex interferometer with the Wollaston compensator

摘要

The classical Mach–Zehnder two-beam set-up has been modernized with the use of polarizationelements to generate a set of optical vortices. The main element of these set-ups is theWollaston compensator, which allows us to obtain a specific phase distribution (withpolarization singularities) in one of the arms of our interferometer. We have confirmed thepractical value of this set-up by developing a method of birefringent media propertiesmeasurement. In the present paper we have started with developing the method for linearlybirefringent media only: however, we hope that this method can be extended to ellipticallybirefringent media. The numerical analysis has confirmed our theoretical predictions. Themutual displacement measurements of the two OV sublattices of different topological chargesallowed us to calculate the basic birefringent media parameters: the azimuth angle of its firsteigenvector and the phase difference between their eigenwaves. We also carried out someexperiments which convinced us about the practical value of the proposed set-ups.