Polarization imaging based on time-integration by a continuous rotating polarizer

Abstract

Polarimeter by rotating polarizer is one of the well-known and classic division of time polarimeter (DoTP). It is generally acknowledged that this kind of polarimeter is time consuming for each measurement although it has simple, accurate and compact performances. In this paper we present a time-integration polarimeter by using a continuous rotating polarizer. The basic principle and the corresponding mathematical expressions are derived. Numeric analysis and experiments are also made in this paper. Experimental results validate the precision and feasibility of the proposed imaging polarization and state of polarization retrieve theory. The frame-frequency of polarization image is 80fps which is limited mainly by the speed of the photodetector in our experiments, and its maximum frame-frequency can achieve over 270fps in theory for some special applications. That may give this kind of classic polarimeter new attractive prospects and life.