Analysis of Polarizing Optical Systems for Digital Optical Computing with Symmetric Self Electrooptic Devices.

摘要

This research developed imaging polarimetry to study the propagation of polarized light in polarization based optical interconnects such as the ATT digital optical computer, and adapted polarization aberration theory and polarization ray tracing, to understand new classes of problems arising in optical systems for digital optical computing. An imaging polarimeter was constructed and calibrated at UAH under this contract. The output is a Mueller matrix image, a spatial representation of the polarization properties across a wavefront, typically as a function of field of view or pupil coordinate. With the imaging polarimeter, one can simultaneously balance the transmitted polarization between the top and bottom, left and right sides of a wavefront as one rotates tilts, or otherwise adjusts the polarization components. Imaging polarimeter was demonstrated to be a useful alignment tool and was used to characterize many polarizing elements such as polarizing beam splitters, linear retarders, and liquid crystals.