Stokes polarimeter using vector diffractive optical elements

Abstract

We designed, fabricated and tested a Vector Diffractive Optical Element (VDOE) to simultaneously determine the Stokes vector of light. It comprises several sectors. Each one is a vector Fresnel zone plate which focuses the light on separate foci and has different polarization properties. The polarization state is calculated from their intensities. From simulations, we could identify the error sources that were analytically removed. The residual uncertainty after applying our corrections was as low as 6x10^(-5). The uncertainty obtained for our fabricated VDOE, 3.33 %, is competitive with the results from state-of-the-art techniques.