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Liquid crystal polymer full-stokes division of focal plane polarimeter

Article  in  Optics Express · December 2012

DOI: 10.1364/OE.20.027393 · Source: PubMed

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 Liquid crystal polymer full-stokes division of
focal plane polarimeter
Graham Myhre,1,* Wei-Liang Hsu, 1 Alba Peinado, 1 Charles LaCasse, 1 Neal Brock,2
Russell A. Chipman,1 and Stanley Pau1
1
College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, 1620 East University Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
2
4D Technology, 3280 East Hemisphere Loop #146, Tucson, Arizona 85706, USA
*
gmyhre@optics.arizona.edu

Abstract: A division-of-focal-plane polarimeter based on a dichroic dye

and liquid crystal polymer guest-host system is presented. Two Stokes
polarimeters are demonstrated: a linear Stokes and the first ever Full-Stokes
division-of-focal-plane polarimeter. The fabrication, packaging, and
characterization of the systems are presented. Finally, optimized
polarimeter designs are discussed for future works.
©2012 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (110.5405) Polarimetric imaging; (160.3710) Liquid crystals; (160.5470)
Polymers; (130.5440) Polarization-selective devices; (260.5430) Polarization.

References and links

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1. Introduction
The primary attributes of an optical field are its intensity, wavelength, coherence and
polarization. An imaging polarimeter is a camera that samples the polarization state across a
scene. There is a wide variety of applications for imaging polarimeters, including, remote
sensing [1], medical imaging [2, 3], and interferometry [4, 5]. A polarimeter functions by
recording multiple pixelated intensity measurements through varying polarization filters. In a
simple configuration these polarization filters can consist of a 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° linear
and right- and left-handed circular polarizers. A Stokes imaging polarimeter then uses the
measurements to estimate the incident polarization state, which can be quantified as a Stokes

vector. A Stokes vector, S , consists of four elements S0, S1, S2, and S3, which can be defined
using the set of intensity measurements mentioned previously,
S 0 (x , y )   I 0° (x , y ) + I 90° (x , y ) 
  S (x , y )   I (x , y ) − I (x , y ) 
S (x , y ) =  1  =  0° 90°  (1)
S 2 (x , y )   I 45° (x , y ) − I 135° (x , y ) 
   
S 3 (x , y )   I RH (x , y ) − I LH (x , y ) 
Here S1 and S2 represent the affinity towards linear polarization. S3 denotes the fraction of
the intensity that is circularly polarized. While S0 must be greater than zero, S1,2,3 can range
zero to ± S0. Important metrics that can be calculated from a Stokes vector are the angle of
linear polarization, degree of polarization (DOP), degree of linear polarization (DOLP), and
degree of circular polarization (DOCP), shown in Eqs. (2)–(5) respectively [6].
1 S2
θ linear = tan −1 (2)
2 S1

DOP = S 12 + S 22 + S 32 / S 0 (3)

DOLP = S 12 + S 22 / S 0 (4)

DOCP = S 3 / S 0 (5)
An imaging polarimeter is not limited to measuring the intensities referenced in Eq. (1).
The instrument must capture a minimum of four measurements to calculate the complete
vector and must include at least one measurement that is not coplanar with the others when
plotted on the Poincaré Sphere. A wide variety of imaging polarimeter configurations exist,
but almost all of them can be categorized as either a division of time (DoTP), amplitude
(DoAmP), aperture (DoAP), or focal-plane (DoFP) polarimeter. An overview of the different
configurations is given by Tyo, et al. [7]. A DoFP Stokes imaging polarimeter uses a
polarization focal plane array (FPA) that is analogous to a Bayer color filter FPA [8] in that
neighboring pixels on an image sensor have varying filters. Most often the FPA pattern
consists of an array of 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° linear polarizers, as shown in Fig. 1(a).
Figure 1(b) illustrates how each pixel in a macro pixel detects a separate linear polarization
orientation using a linear polarizer mounted directly above a pixel in an image sensor. These

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four intensity measurements are used to estimate the incident polarization. This configuration
is only capable of measuring the linear components of the Stokes vector, S1 and S2. A circular
polarization measurement requires an elliptical or circular polarizer to be included in the
system. Thus far the vast majority of DoFP polarimeters are based on wire-grid polarizer
arrays which can be fabricated on a separate substrate [9] or directly on the sensor [10],
however, patterned polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) polarizers [11] and birefringent crystals have
also been used [12]. In this paper we demonstrate the use of patterned liquid crystal polymer
(LCP) polarizers and retarders to construct both a linear and a full Stokes DoFP imaging
polarimeter. Previously we demonstrated the fabrication of patterned LCP polarizers as small
as 3 μm [13] and retarders as small as 4 μm [14]. Performance of and polarization images
from the two liquid crystal polymer based polarimeters are presented. This paper follows the
methodology given by both Tyo et al [7], LaCasse et al [15], and Chipman [16]. A brief
overview is given in Appendix A.

Fig. 1. (a) A linear polarizer focal plane array comprised of 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° linear
polarizers. (b) Each different polarizer orientation transmits a differing polarization state and
that intensity is measured by the individual pixel.

2. Focal plane array polarization filter fabrication

Patterned LCP films are fabricated using a linearly photopolymerizable polymer (LPP)
photoalignment material, which anisotropically cross-links when exposed to linearly
polarized ultraviolet (LPUV) light [17, 18]. This material is used as a patternable substitute
for mechanically buffed substrates. The alignment orientation is defined by exposing the
material to linearly polarized ultraviolet light (LPUV) and therefore patterned alignment
domains can be defined using traditional photolithography techniques with the addition of a
linear polarizer. The photoalignment material is model LIA-01 by Dainippon Ink and
Chemical. The LCP is model RMS08 manufactured by EMD Chemicals and is a dry powder
that is added to a solvent before coating. Dichroic dye is added to the LCP/solvent mixture to
add absorption to the material. The dyes used are models G-241 and G-472, which have peak
absorption at 553 nm and 619 nm respectively and are produced by Hayashibara Biochemical
Laboratories, Inc. The substrates used are 100 mm diameter 0.5 mm thick borosilicate double
side polished wafers.
The DoFP polarimeter is designed around the monochromatic Kodak KAI-2020 CCD.
This CCD array is comprised of a 1600x1200 active pixel array where each pixel is 7.4 μm
square.
Accurate alignment marks are crucial for defining the unique polarization domains in the
photoalignment material (PM) layer. Therefore they must first be deposited or etched onto the
glass. Both etching of the glass using hydrogen fluoride and electron beam deposition of
chrome were explored, however it was found the etched glass lacked adequate contrast during
dicing of the finished wafers. The chrome was patterned with a standard lift-off process and a
total of 50 nm was deposited. Figure 2(a) shows the design of the deposited alignment marks.

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 Once a wafer has alignment marks, the PM layer is coated by spin coating at 2500 rpm
and then drying at 85° C for 1 minute. Four alignment domains need to be registered to one
another and therefore an exposure tool with an alignment system is required. Here we use an
ABM mask aligner with a 6-axis vacuum stage to perform the exposures. Each exposure
generates one quadrant of the macro-pixel. Figure 2(b) shows the alignment mark used for
each successive exposure. The majority of the mask is comprised of 7.4 μm boxes that cover
every fourth pixel, as shown in Fig. 2(c). The marks require the mask to be indexed by a
single pixel (7.4 μm) either vertically or horizontally between exposures. A 4” ultraviolet
linear dichroic polarizer manufactured by Boulder Optics, which is placed on top of the
chrome mask, is used to define the polarization orientation of each exposure and is changed
between each exposure. The exposure time is adjusted for LPUV exposure dose of 80 mJ/cm2
at 365 nm.

Fig. 2. (a) Alignment marks defined on the bare borosilicate wafer using a chrome lift off
process. (b) Alignment marks on the second mask index the chrome mask 7.4 μm in each
direction. (c) The majority of the mask is comprised of 7.4 μm boxes that cover every fourth
pixel. Each exposure through the mask defines a quarter of the macro pixel.

After exposure of the PM layer, the wafer is coated with LCP doped with dichroic dye.
Dye loading varied between 5 and 20 mg/ml LCP and solvent solution. Coating speeds range
from 600 to 3000 rpm. After coating, the LCP is dried for 2 minutes at 55° C. It is important
not to exceed 60° C as the LCP has a sharp isotropic phase transition. The dried film is then
exposed to unpolarized UV light. Depending on the amount of dye included, a higher or
lower intensity is necessary. For 20 mg/ml of dye solution an intensity of 100 mW/cm2 is
used. Figure 3(a) shows a micrograph of a set of filter array illuminated with 45° polarized
light. A 100x 0.4 NA microscope objective is used to inspect the array for defects and
alignment quality. The microscope is not free of diattenuation and therefore the exact
transmission is not representative.
The wafer is diced into its respective dies and mounted to a Teflon holder shown in
Fig. 3(b). This Teflon package is then used to hold the die during alignment to the CCD.
During alignment to the CCD, the sensor is illuminated with polarized light and a 6-axis stage
is used to manipulate the Teflon holder relative to the CCD. When the FPA is aligned
properly, UV epoxy is applied at the corners of the Teflon holder and is cured to hold the
Teflon package in place. Proper alignment to the CCD, especially the residual gap between
the CCD and FPA, is extremely important. Effects of improper alignment are discussed in
detail in Appendix B.

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 Fig. 3. (a) A micrograph of a completed FPA shows the four orientations in a macro pixel. (b)
The sensor with the aligned and affixed FPA. (c) The sensor is replaced in the SBIG Camera
with the modified version. (d) The SBIG ST-2000XM Camera with a Nikon 50 mm F-mount
lens.

The modified CCD is then inserted into the SBIG 200XM camera body, shown in
Fig. 3(c). Once the camera is fully assembled, it can be used with c-mount, t-mount, or Nikon
F-mount lenses (Fig. 3(d)).
3. Linear DoFP polarimeter
The first polarimeter assembled is a linear polarimeter with a macro pixel shown in Fig. 3(a).
While other patterned LCP polarizers have been demonstrated, this is the first linear DoFP
polarimeter constructed with LCP based patterned polarizers. The micropolarizer array is
made with a RMS08 LCP solvent solution that is mixed with 10 mg/ml of both purple (G-
241) and blue (G-472) dye. Blue and purple dyes were included in equal concentration broad
spectrum polarimetric imaging. If the device is to be used for interferometric purposes,
optimum dye concentrations can be designed to increase the extinction ratio at specific
interferometer wavelengths.
3.1 Bulk polarizer characterization
A 1.5” companion wafer is completed with each 4” wafer. The companion wafer undergoes
identical processing except they have a single uniform 0° exposure. These samples are used to
estimate the polarization properties of the micropolarizers. Figures 4(a) and 4(b) shows the
bulk spectrum and extinction ratio for the device. The solid lines represent measurements
from a Varian 5000 UV-VIS-NIR Spectrometer and the circles represent individual
measurements using an Axometrics Polarimeter with a variety of 5 nm bandpass filters.
Figure 4(c) shows the specific solvent, LCP, and dichroic dye mixture used.

Fig. 4. (a) Bulk transmission of the sample with unpolarized, polarized perpendicular, and
polarized parallel light incident is shown. Continuous measurements were taken on a
spectrometer (lines) and were confirmed with discrete measurements on a polarimeter (circles).
(b) The extinction ratio as a function of wavelength. (c) The chemical components of the
coated dye doped LCP.

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3.2 FPA Mueller matrix images
A Mueller matrix imaging polarimeter (MMIP) [19] is used to analyze the LCP FPA. The
linear diattenuation, linear diattenuation orientation, and depolarization at 600 are shown in
Fig. 5 along with cross-section data. The system uses a 40x 0.55 microscope objective and
therefore achieving focus is difficult. Proper focus is essential for these measurements
because orthogonally polarized light that is recombined is depolarized. Therefore, defocus,
scattering, and diffraction all lead to reduction in measured diattenuation and an increase in
depolarization. Figure 5 illustrates some high resolution details that can be measured using
the MMIP. The diattenuation is uniform in the center of the sample, with low areas at the
boundaries between pixels. The diattenuation orientation cross-section alternates between 90°
and 135° degree pixels except at the right side where it intersects the boundary of two pixels
due to tilt of the sample. The depolarization is roughly 0.15 in the center of the pixels, but
increases dramatically at the boundaries due to defocus and undersampling. This level of
depolarization will effectively limit the diattenuation of the polarizer to a maximum of 0.85,
which is shown in the diattenuation cutline with values centered around 0.77.

Fig. 5. Horizontal cut lines are shown for linear diattenuation, linear diattenuation orientation,
and depolarization taken at 600 nm. The sample has a slight tilt, resulting in measurements that
shift from the center of the pixel on the left to the boundary area between two pixels on the
right

3.3 DOLP test

The accuracy of the DOLP estimation was measured by capturing multiple images with
varying DOLP. The DOLP was controlled by rotating a nearly quarter-wave retarder in front
of a 0° linear polarizer. Due to the change in retardance with wavelength, the spectrum was
limited by a 580 nm bandpass filter with a spectral width of 5 nm. Using the Axometrics
Mueller Matrix Polarimeter the waveplate was also measured to have a retardance of 98.96°.
Figure 6 shows a plot of the average DOLP of the scene with the standard deviation marked
by error bars. The average standard deviation for all the measurements was ± 0.053. The

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 Fig. 6. The DOLP is measured as a function of the fast axis orientation of a 98.96° retarder at
585 nm. The circles mark the measurements and the solid line is the theoretical prediction. The
average standard deviation is 5.31%. The images on the right show a 250x250 pixel area
captured at different orientations of the retarder.

solid line shows the theoretical DOLP for a horizontal polarization state rotated by an ideal
waveplate with a retardance of 98.96°. The four images show a 250x250 crop of the captured
images with the fast-axis orientation of the retarder indicated. The noise in the scene is
primarily due to pattern defects in the LCP orientations which cannot be easily removed by
calibration.
3.4 Sample images
The linear DoFP camera is tested with a few scenes in both indoor and outdoor environments.
The test target is a beam chopper with linear polarizers placed in each window. The polarizers
in the inside windows are aligned radially and on the outside windows they are aligned
tangentially. Figure 7 was taken with a 50 mm lens at f/5.6 with a 0.5 second exposure and
ambient fluorescent lighting. The average DOLP in the polarizer regions is 0.783 ± 0.111.
Reflections of the surfaces of the polarizers act to reduce the measured DOLP. Particle
defects on the FPA are responsible for some defects.

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 Fig. 7. The 1000x1000 pixel image was taken at f/5.6 with a 0.5 second exposure. The average
DOLP of the polarizer regions is 0.782 ± 0.111.

Many natural scenes can have very low polarization signatures, but reflected sky light or
high angle reflections produce moderate polarization signatures. Figure 8 shows a parked car
on the roof of a parking garage. The sun is near its apex and the windows are reflecting the
polarized sky. The metallic siding of the car has a weaker polarization signal, however clearly
changes with the shape of siding. The linear angle plot is noisy in low intensity areas as
expected, but varies smoothly with changing shape of the body panels. The maximum DOLP
of the scene is 0.4.

Fig. 8. A 50mm f/5.6 lens with a 0.01 second exposure was used to image a parked car.

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4. Full Stokes DoFP polarimeter
The second prototype polarimeter is a full Stokes DoFP polarimeter. A primary advantage of
LCP based FPAs is that they can be used as retarders or as polarizers when dichroic dye is
incorporated. The Full Stokes design here utilizes two layers of patterned LCP material
separated by an intermediate buffer layer. Using these two layers, circular or elliptical
polarizers can be fabricated, which is not possible using wire-grid polarizer technology.
However, spiral plasmonic antennas have recently been shown to function as circular
polarizers [20]. A different approach demonstrated recently is to place an electro-active liquid
crystal cell in front of a wire-grid polarizer FPA [21], however multiple time sequential
exposures are then necessary.
The macro-pixel design, shown in Fig. 9, was chosen primarily to demonstrate the
fabrication of circular polarizers immediately adjacent to a linear polarizer. As stated above,
two layers of LCP material are coated. The first is identical to that described in the linear
FPA, except for the orientations of the polarizers. A buffer layer of Norland optical adhesive
NOA-81 is then spin coated at 4000 rpm. A second layer of photoalignment material is then
coated, cured, and exposed. The second layer of LCP without dichroic dye is then coated at
750 rpm, which results in a thickness with a quarter wave of retardance at 580 nm. The LCP
orientations were chosen so that a macro pixel would be comprised of a 0° linear, 45° linear,
right-hand circular, and 90° linear polarizers. As shown in Fig. 8, the LCP orientations are 0°-
0°, 45°-45°, 0°-45°, and 0°-90° for the retarder and polarizer respectively. When the retarder
is at 0° or 90° with respect the polarizer orientation, it is an eigenpolarization of the polarizer
and therefore does not affect the transmission. However, at 45° to the polarizer orientation the
quarter-wave retarder acts to rotate circularly polarized light to linearly polarized light that
will be transmitted or blocked by the polarizer depending on whether right or left handed light
is incident.

Fig. 9. Each retarder and polarizer orientation combination transmits a differing polarization
state. The macro-pixel is comprised of a 0°, 45°, right-hand circular, and 90° polarizers. (left to
right)

4.1 FPA Mueller matrix images

The Full Stokes FPAs are also examined using the MMIP. Figure 10 shows the linear and
circular diattenuation of the FPA. The linear and circular diattenuation does not reach zero for
a circular or linear pixel. This could be due to a variety of issues. Misalignment in the LCP
orientations will result in circular diattenuation. For an ideal polarizer and retarder, a 15°
angle between axes of the devices results in a circular diattenuation of 0.5. Secondly,
deviation from the quarter wave thickness will result in increased linear diattenuation.
Scattering in the LCP and barrier layers can possibly cause significant scattering and

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depolarization. Finally, stress in the barrier material can add random retardance and act as a
depolarizer in the optical path.

Fig. 10. Horizontal cut lines are shown for linear and circular diattenuation at 600 nm. The
diattenuation alternates between primarily circular and linear for the two pixels in the cutline.

4.2 DOLP and DOCP test

The accuracy of the DOLP and DOCP estimation is measured by capturing images of varying
uniformly polarized light. The ellipticity of the polarization is varied by rotating a nearly
quarter-wave retarder in front of a 0° linear polarizer. Due to the change in retardance with
wavelength, the spectrum was limited by a 580 nm bandpass filter with a spectral width of 5
nm. Using an Axometrics Mueller Matrix Polarimeter the waveplate was measured to have a
retardance of 89.1°. Figure 11 shows a plot of the average DOLP (black) and DOCP (red) of
the scene with the standard deviation marked by error bars. The solid lines show the
theoretical DOLP and DOCP for a vertical polarization state rotated by an ideal waveplate
with a retardance of 89.1°. There is a larger variation in the standard deviation of the
measurements to imbalance in the polarization measurements. This will be discussed further
on.

Fig. 11. The DOLP and DOCP are measured as a function of the fast axis orientation of an
89.1° retarder at 585 nm. The circles mark the measurements and the solid line the theoretical
prediction. The error bars represent one standard deviation in the DOCP or DOLP of the scene.
Imbalance design in the measurement space causes large variance in the standard deviation.

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4.3 Sample images
The Full-Stokes DoFP prototype camera is tested with a similar target as the linear version.
The test target is a beam chopper with linear polarizers oriented tangentially in the outside
windows. The inside windows are covered with right–handed circular polarizers. Figure 12 is
taken with a 100 mm lens at f/11 with a 5 second exposure and ambient fluorescent lighting
that is filtered with a 5 nm bandpass filter centered at 580 nm. The narrow spectral filter is
necessary because of the change in retardance with wavelength, which results in the camera
calibration being spectrally sensitive. The different polarizer orientations cause large
variations in the noise level, particularly for 135° linear or left-handed circular polarization.

Fig. 12. A 5 second exposure with a 100mm f/11 lens and a 5 nm bandpass filter centered at
580 nm. The image is of a beam chopper with linear polarizers in the outer windows and right
circular polarizers in the inner widows.

While circular polarization is relatively rare in nature, elliptically polarized reflected light
from scarab beetles was originally discovered by Michelson in 1911. The beetles have been
shown to exhibit both left- and right-handed circular polarization depending on the species.
The chirality of the beetles outer structure is responsible for the polarization properties and
has previously been examined for many beetles and over a range of incident angles [22, 23].
Figure 13 shows a Plusiotis optima beetle illuminated with diffuse white light. Reflection
from the body has a DOCP of roughly 0.4 in the center of the shell. The light reflected off of
the sides of the beetle is slightly linearly polarizer due to polarization sensitivity of high angle
Fresnel reflections.

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 Fig. 13. A 10 second exposure with a 100mm f/11 lens and a 5 nm bandpass filter centered at
580 nm. The image is of a Plusiotis optima beetle

5. Future design optimization and conclusions

In this paper, we present a novel method of fabricating a variety of polarization micro-optics
and the application of this technology in two prototype DoFP Polarimeters. This technology
represents an increase in simplicity and flexibility for the fabrication of micro polarization
optics. The most competitive technology, micro wire grid polarizers, requires a process
toolset that includes a lithography system capable of printing pitches below 300 nm, an
evaporator to deposit metals, and a dry etch system. Comparatively, this process requires only
a lithography tool with a resolution better than the pixel size, 7.4 μm in this case. Secondly,
the spectral response of the system is only dependent on the dyes incorporated and can
therefore be optimized for very narrow or wide spectrums.
The linear DoFP polarimeter represents a basic demonstration of the technology. To the
best of our knowledge, our full-Stokes DoFP polarimeter is the first of its kind ever made.
The devices shown are still prototypes and improvements in the defect levels and
measurement error is necessary. The linear FPA includes four measurements on the equator
of the Poincaré Sphere shown in Fig. 14(a). By moving one of the measurements away from
the hemisphere, using a patterned retarder, S3 is measured as well. However, this is an
unbalanced design. The area inscribed by the four measurements shown in Fig. 14(b)
encompasses only roughly one side of the top hemisphere. The quality and noise level of a
polarimeter can be roughly equated to how much area the inscribed measurement points
encompass. Optimized polarimeter designs have been studied previously. A patterned
polarizer/ and retarder DoFP is equivalent to a spinning retarder division of time polarimeter
that records four measurements. Sabatke, et. al. [24] have shown that the optimized four
measurements should form a tetrahedron inscribed in the Poincaré Sphere. For a uniform
vertical polarizer and a patterned retarder, the design uses a 135° retarder with fast axis angles
of ± 15.1° and ± 51.7°. This could simplify the fabrication and defect density of the FPA as
the polarizer can be uniformly aligned. A second option is to pattern both layers and use a 35°
retarder, as shown in Fig. 14(c). This allows for a thinner film stack due to the smaller
retardance.

#175743 - $15.00 USD Received 7 Sep 2012; accepted 8 Nov 2012; published 26 Nov 2012
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 Fig. 14. Polarimeter designs can be illustrated on a Poincaré Sphere. The red dots represent the
measurement states of each polarimeter. (a) The linear stokes DofP polarimeter. (b) The full
Stokes DoFP polarimeter. (c) A possible optimized full Stokes polarimeter.

Appendix A: Stokes vector estimation and system calibration

An imaging polarimeter indirectly measures Stokes vectors as only intensities can be directly
measured. The Stokes vector is inferred by the intensity measurements and a known system
configuration. For any system, the output polarization is a function of the input polarization
and the system Mueller matrix (M). The system Mueller matrix is the product of the Mueller
matrices of the individual elements in the system, which generally consists of some number
of diattenuators retarders, and depolarizers. The output polarization, Sout, can be calculated
from a known input polarization, Sin, and a system Mueller matrix, Msys, using Eq. (6).
S out = M sys ⋅ S in (6)
The only value directly measured is the intensity, Sout,0, which can be calculated via
Eq. (7).
S out ,0 = M 0,0S in ,0 + M 0,1S in ,1 + M 0,2S in ,2 + M 0,3S in ,3 = A ⋅ S in (7)
Note that the intensity is purely dependent on the top row of the Mueller matrix, which is
also known as the Analyzer vector (A). Remembering that Sout,0 is the measured value, Sin can
be solved for using a system of equations that include at least four unique Analyzer vectors.
An array of Analyzer vectors is formed called the Polarimetric Matrix W. I is the
measurement vector which is comprised of the Sout,0 measurements.

S out
1
,0
  A1 
 1   
S A
I =  out ,0  =  2  ⋅ S in = W ⋅ S in (8)
     
 n   
S out ,0   A n 
From Eq. (8) it is clear that by using the pseudo-inverse of W, the input Stokes vector can
be calculated, Sin. This is known as the data reduction matrix, W−1.

Sin = W −1 ⋅ I (9)
The dot over Sin indicates that it is an estimated quantity due to noise. The calculation of
Sin assumes that W is known, however this is often not the case and W must instead also be
determined via system calibration. This is performed via inputting light of a known Stokes
vector. An example calculation of W0,0 and W0,1 by inputting 0° and 90° polarized light is
shown below.
0°
I out ,0 = W 0,0 +W 0,1 = M ⋅ S 0° (10)

#175743 - $15.00 USD Received 7 Sep 2012; accepted 8 Nov 2012; published 26 Nov 2012
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 90°
I out ,0 = W 0,0 −W 0,1 = M ⋅ S 90° (11)
0° 90°
2W 0,0 = I out ,0 + I out ,0 (12)
0° 90°
2W 0,1 = I out ,0 − I out ,0 (13)
W0,2 and W0,3 can be similarly calculated by inputting 45° linear, 135° linear, right hand
circular, and left handed circular polarization. In this fashion the full polarimetric matrix can
be estimated. It is also necessary to account for the spectral dependence of W as the
polarization and retardance properties of the elements are a function of wavelength. This can
be done by adding spectral filter and calibrating the system over different wavelength bands.
The method described above is for the calibration of a single measurement Stokes
polarimeter. An imaging polarimeter collects data over the image field and therefore I, S, and
W are functions of position (x,y) and for the case of a CCD they are discrete positions (m,n).
Depending on the uniformity of the optical elements over the field, an average W matrix can
be used or it can be calculated for each sample point. It was assumed that array defects,
coating uniformity, and error in FPA alignment would cause changes in our W matrix over the
extent of the CCD and therefore an individual W matrix is calculated for each pixel. This was
performed by capturing a series of 40 images while the CCD was illuminated with uniform
white linearly polarizer light. For the linear DoFP, a 500 nm long pass filter is installed in
front of the CCD in order to limit the spectrum to the wavelengths the dyes are most sensitive
to. Four linear polarization orientations, 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135°, were used and ten images
were acquired at each orientation. The ten images were then averaged to produce four master
calibration images. These images were used to calculate the Analyzer vectors for each pixel
as described in Eqs. (10)–(13). A collection of four neighboring pixels, (n,m),
(n+1,m),(n,m+1), and (n+1,m+1), are then used to calculate the individual W and W−1
matrices. More sophisticated calibration, interpolation [25], and deconvolution techniques
[26] can also be applied to improve data quality and resolution.
Linear operation of the detector is also of importance. Ideally, the detector is treated as
linear and without a polarization specific response, however all CCD and CMOS sensors have
a linear and non-linear regimes and therefore it is important to only operate them in the linear
regime or by properly characterizing their nonlinear response.
Appendix B: Effects of focal plane array gap and lens f-number on image quality
A critically important step in the fabrication is the bonding of the FPA to the CCD. The FPA
needs to be aligned to the CCD in all three spatial dimensions as well as two tilt axis. This
operation was performed for us by 4D Technology located in Tucson AZ.

#175743 - $15.00 USD Received 7 Sep 2012; accepted 8 Nov 2012; published 26 Nov 2012
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 Fig. 15. The diagram shows how spacing between the FPA and CCD results in a periodic
artifacts in the Stokes value measurement. The images show how the period of the effect is
proportional to the focal length of the system.

Errors arise from significant spacing between the FPA and the CCD which are related to
both the focal length and f-number of the system. This is the case for the very first prototype
camera constructed. Figure 15 shows how the spacing between the FPA and the CCD causes
a vertical offset between where the chief ray strikes the FPA and CCD. As the offset increases
radially away from the optical axis, the Stokes values and DOLP fall to zero as averaging
occurs between neighboring pixels. When the magnitude of the offset reaches a full pixel
height, 7.4 μm for this CCD, the measured Stokes value is equal to the negative of its original
value. At an offset of 1.5 pixels the Stokes values again fall to zero before rising back to their
original value. This cycle repeats continuously with an offset period equal to the height of two
pixels. The Stokes images in Fig. 15 were generated from imaging a scene of uniform
horizontally polarized light using an earlier prototype linear DoFP polarimeter. As expected,
the pitch of the pattern roughly doubles in size between the 50mm and 100mm focal length
lenses. Interestingly, the gap between the FPA and CCD can be estimated from the resulting
images. Each complete period of the pattern is the equivalent of two pixels of vertical offset,
which is 14.8 μm. From the geometry of similar triangles in Fig. 15 and knowing the total
number of periods, number of pixels in the image, and the lens focal length the gap is
estimated to be 76 μm.

#175743 - $15.00 USD Received 7 Sep 2012; accepted 8 Nov 2012; published 26 Nov 2012
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 Fig. 16. As the f-number decrease the marginal ray angle increases. This resulting averaging
from neighboring pixels decreases the effective extinction ratio and, in the extreme, can alter
the polarizer orientation.

Performance degradation also occurs with decreasing f-number. As the f-number

increases the marginal ray angle increases and the diameter of the image-space cone of light
at the FPA can exceed the size of an individual pixel. Figure 16 shows a diagram illustrating
an imaging configuration with three different f-numbers. The high f-number has no averaging
and therefore measures the full range of the Stokes parameter, an example of which is shown
by the f/22 image. As the f-number decreases, averaging with areas outside of the intended
FPA pixel occurs and results in a reduced effective extinction ratio and therefore a lower
measured Stokes value and DOLP. The f/16 image shows this as the maximum value of S1
and S2 is ±0.5. If the f-number is further decreased, the effective polarization orientation
changes because a larger area of the orthogonal orientation is included in the average. In the
f/11 image, the sign of the Stokes values is flipped and the maximum value is now ±0.2.
The polarimeters described in sections 3 and 4 have a much smaller gap than the earlier
prototype that is used to capture the images in Figs. 15 and 16. However, the devices still
show significant degradation in performance at low f-numbers. Figure 17 shows a plot of
extinction ratio versus f-number for the linear DoFP polarimeter from section 3 using three
different focal length lenses. The extinction ratio was measured by dividing each image into
its sub-pixels components, resulting in four images with a quarter of the resolution. On a per
pixel basis, the 0° image was divided by the 90° image, which yielded a pixel level map of
the extinction ratio. The mean and standard deviation of the scene is then calculated. There is
slight reduction in peak extinction ratio between the 50 and 100 mm lens, but at equivalent f-
numbers the values are within one standard deviation between the 100 and 500 mm lenses.
For all the lenses, significant roll off in extinction ratio occurs at f-numbers below 8. The
residual gap and the one micron thickness of the film still affect the performance at low f-
numbers and short focal lengths. This reinforces the importance of reducing the overall
thickness of the devices and any gap between the FPA and the filters, which will be critically
necessary in improving future devices.

#175743 - $15.00 USD Received 7 Sep 2012; accepted 8 Nov 2012; published 26 Nov 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 3 December 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 25 / OPTICS EXPRESS 27408
 Fig. 17. The f-number is plotted versus the extinction ratio for a 50 mm, 100 mm, and 500 mm
lens.

Acknowledgments
This work is funded by the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) Program under Award FA9550-09-1-0669-
DOD35CAP and by the Arizona Technology Research Infrastructure Fund (TRIF). The
authors thank Prof. Thomas Milster’s, Prof. Scott Tyo, and Prof. Nasser Peyghambarian’s
research groups for allowing us to utilize their equipments and for donating their time. The
authors would also like to thank Dainippon Ink and Chemical for material donations and Prof.
Peter Vukusic for providing us samples of the beetle.

#175743 - $15.00 USD Received 7 Sep 2012; accepted 8 Nov 2012; published 26 Nov 2012
(C) 2012 OSA 3 December 2012 / Vol. 20, No. 25 / OPTICS EXPRESS 27409

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