Principle analysis of snapshot Mueller matrix imaging polarimeter using birefringent crystal

Conventional Muller matrix imaging polarimeter (MMIP) with several rotating elements suffers mechanical complexity, vibration noise, heat generation, and other unwanted problems. To overcome those shortcomings, we present a snapshot Muller matrix imaging polarimeter (SMMIP) using a birefringent crystal with high extinction ratio. The snapshot imaging polarimeter allows a single image to be used to measure the polarization of a scene without electronic control units or moving mechanical components. This new polarimeter combines the technique of Muller matrix spectropolarimetry with a snapshot imaging polarimeter through using modified Savart polariscope (MSP-SMMIP). It contains both a generator and an analyzer module. Spatial polarization fringes are localized on a sample by incorporating modified Savart polariscope into a polarization generator module. These fringes modulate the Mueller matrix components of the sample, which are subsequently isolated with modified Savart polariscope in an analyzer module, and the analyzer and the imaging lens combine with 16 beams to create interference, resulting in spatial modulation on the two-dimensional CCD camera. Expressions for interference intensities, optical system analysis, theory of calibration and method of reconstruction are presented. Finally, the numerical simulation is used to demonstrate theoretical analysis and the feasibility of MSP-SMMIP. The layout is very easy to calibrate and the reference target is only a linear polarizer at 22.5°. Moreover, the remarkable advantages of the proposed instrument, compared with conventional Muller matrix imaging polarimeter, are that it is also simple, compact, snapshotted, and static (no moving parts). Therefore we believe that the proposed snapshot imaging polarimeter will be very useful in many applications, such as biomedical imaging and remote sensing.