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Detection and identification of optical activity using polarimetry – applications to biophotonics, biomedicine and biochemistry
Author(s) -
Bahar Ezekiel
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of biophotonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1864-0648
pISSN - 1864-063X
DOI - 10.1002/jbio.200810021
Subject(s) - mueller calculus , polarimetry , biophotonics , optical rotation , circular polarization , optics , chirality (physics) , circular dichroism , materials science , physics , scattering , chemistry , photonics , crystallography , nambu–jona lasinio model , chiral symmetry breaking , quantum mechanics , quark , microstrip
Polarized light that is reflected or transmitted through chiral specimens can be used to detect and identify biological and chemical materials including human tissue. The determination of the silent footprints of the chiral properties of the biological materials on scattered polarized light is the basis for these investigations. It is of primary importance to identify which combinations of the elements of the Mueller matrix for reflected or for transmitted light can be used to determine the optical activity of the biochemical materials. The optical activity of chiral materials is characterized by optical rotation and circular dichroism. The explicit analytical dependence of these specific elements of the Mueller matrix, upon the angles of incidence and scatter, upon the wavelength and upon the type of chirality has the potential to provide experimentalists with guidance in determining the optimum use of optical polarimetric scatterometers. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)