Measurement of the Stokes parameters of light

作者：H. G. Berry, G. Gabrielse, Arthur E. Livingston · 发表于：Applied Optics · 年份：1977 · DOI：10.1364/ao.16.003200 · 被引用次数：392 · 研究领域：Quantum optics and atomic interactions、Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research、Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates

We describe a measuring system for determining the state of polarization of a beam of light in terms of its Stokes parameters. The technique which can be fully automated incorporates a monochromator and single photon counting detection and can thus be applied over a large wavelength range for very weak optical signals. Fourier transformation of the data by an on-line minicomputer allows immediate calculation of the Stokes parameters. We discuss special applications to light emitted from excited atomic systems with and without cylindrical symmetry.