Photoelastic modulator non-idealities in magneto-optical polarization measurements

Stefaan Vandendriessche; Thierry Verbiest

doi:10.1117/12.2022211

27 September 2013 Photoelastic modulator non-idealities in magneto-optical polarization measurements

Stefaan Vandendriessche, Thierry Verbiest

Proceedings Volume 8873, Polarization Science and Remote Sensing VI; 88730Z (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2022211
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2013, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Modifying and detecting the polarization of light is increasingly important in many contexts such as Faraday isolators and electro-optical modulators. In order to control the polarization of light, it is necessary to know the polarization characteristics of the materials used in the applications. To be able to (magneto-)optically characterize novel materials, we designed a setup using a single photoelastic modulator (PEM) to simultaneously detect natural and magnetic circular dichroism and circular birefringence over a large spectral range. We then theoretically analyzed and experimentally characterized the effect of non-idealities in the PEM on the setup and the resulting data. Our results demonstrate an influence of PEM non-idealities on the measured signals, resulting in non-negligible mixing of circular birefringence and circular dichroism signals. Our measurements of the wavelength dependence of these non-idealities reveal larger non-idealities towards shorter wavelengths. These results illustrate the necessity to take PEM non-idealities into account when working with PEMs, especially at shorter wavelengths or when dealing with signals spanning different orders of magnitude. PEM non-idealities, while frequently neglected in experimental setup design and theoretical derivations, are expected to be more complicated and possibly exert a larger influence on obtained results for experimental setups with multiple PEMs.

Citation Download Citation

Stefaan Vandendriessche and Thierry Verbiest "Photoelastic modulator non-idealities in magneto-optical polarization measurements", Proc. SPIE 8873, Polarization Science and Remote Sensing VI, 88730Z (27 September 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2022211

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