SC274 Polarization Engineering

Sunday, October 11, 2009
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Russell Chipman; Univ. of Arizona, USA
Level: Intermediate (prior knowledge of topic is necessary to appreciate course material)

Course Description

This course provides a survey of issues associated with calculating polarization effects in optical systems using optical design programs. Many optical systems are polarization-critical and require careful attention to polarization issues. Such systems include liquid crystal projectors, imaging with active laser illumination, very high numerical aperture optical systems in microlithography and data storage, DVD players, imaging into tissue and turbid media, optical coherence tomography, and interferometers. Polarization effects are complex: Retardance has three degrees of freedom; diattenuation (partial polarization) has three degrees of freedom; and depolarization, the coupling of polarized into partially polarized light, has nine degrees of freedom. Because of this complexity, polarization components and the polarization performance of optical systems are rarely completely specified. The polarization aberrations introduced by thin films and uniaxial crystals can be readily evaluated in several commercial optical design codes. These routines are complex and most optical engineers are unfamiliar with the capabilities and the forms of output, but these polarization ray tracing routines provide better methods to communicate polarization performance and specifications between different groups teamed on complex optical problems. Better means of technical communication speed the development of complex systems. The emphasis is on the practical aspects of polarization elements and polarization measurements. The basic mathematics of the Poincare sphere, Stokes vectors and Mueller matrices are presented to describe polarized light and polarization elements. Polarizers and retarders are introduced and their principal uses explained. The nonideal characteristics of polarization elements, liquid crystals, and birefringent films are discussed with examples.

Benefits and Learning Objectives

This course should enable you to:

• Discuss how to follow the polarization changes along a ray path through a series of lenses, mirrors, polarization elements and anisotropic materials.
• Explain the “instrumental polarization” or polarization aberrations associated with ray paths.
• Compute polarization state dependent point spread functions and modulation transfer functions.
• Visualize the Maltese cross and other fundamental polarization aberration pattern which occur in many systems.

Intended Audience

This class is intended for optical engineers, scientists and managers who need to understand and apply polarization concepts to optical systems. Prior exposure to optical design programs and polarization elements would be helpful.

Instructor Biography

Russell Chipman is a professor of optical sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He runs the Polarization Lab, which performs measurements and simulations of polarization elements, liquid crystals and polarization aberrations. He has developed many unique spectropolarimeters and imaging polarimeters and conducted studies into polarization in fiber components, waveguides, liquid crystals, polarization elements and natural polarization signatures. He received his bachelor’s of science from MIT and his doctorate in optical science from the University of Arizona. He is a Fellow of OSA and SPIE. He won the 2007 G. G. Stokes Award for research in polarimetry.