Geometric phase interferometer for measuring optical systems' polarization parameters

Abstract

In this dissertation experimental techniques based on interferogram comparison were used to extract the geometric phase of a classical light beam. When a light beam passes through a general optical system, one obtains specific polarization information. The extracted geometric phase allows for the obtainment of parameters such as eigenpolarizations, eigenvalues, retardance, and the equivalent Jones matrix of the system. In addition, it is experimentally demonstrated that it is also possible to determine the Stokes parameters of a uniformly polarized light beam using only the acquired geometric phase. The results presented are in particular for a photonic system of elliptical wave-plate retarders or polarizers, but it is essential to realize that this same idea can be extrapolated to other systems.