Optimal snapshot full-Stokes imaging polarimeter in the visible band based on division-of-aperture

Abstract

This contribution explains the development of a full-Stokes imaging polarimeter that provides the 2D map of the polarization state of a scene in a single acquisition working in the complete visible band. The nature of polarization makes it impossible to measure it using a single measurement with bare intensity-based detectors. Stokes parameters describe the state of polarization of light and provide the amplitudes of the electric field and the phase difference of the two components orthogonal to propagation using simple experiments that measure the time-averaged intensity of the waves. Our camera can transform the input polarization into intensity by using polarization-sensitive elements to recover the complete Stokes vector at each pixel of the camera. The states used for measuring the input polarization are claimed to be the optimal polarization states allowing for fast acquisition in a single shot while keeping the acquisition immunized to Gaussian and Poisson noise. The acquisition errors for full-Stokes parameters are demonstrated to be lower than 10% showing the capability of the system to perform Stokes imaging both in indoor and outdoor scenes. The camera has great potential in computer vision and deep learning applications due to the complementarity of the information provided when compared to intensity data.