Spectropolarimetry of electro optical materials

This paper treats the fundamentals of infrared spectropolarimetry as a step in understanding and designing better spatial light modulators. It describes the issues in converting a Fourier transform tspectrometer to perform spectropolarimetric measurements, and includes mathematics to interpret the resulting spectropolarimetric data. Two distinct differences exist between this proposed instrumentation and previous infrared crystal optics studies; 1.) this instrument acquires data at all wavelengths within its spectral range, and 2.) it measures Mueller polarization matrices. Conventional measurements with laser polarimeters take birefringence data with applied fields at a few laser wavelengths. With the spectropolarimeter, data is obtained on and near absorption bands where the most interesting phenomenae occur. By measuring Mueller matrices as a function of wavelength, data is acquired on polarization and scattering, effects which will ultimately limit the performance of a modulating crystal. Thus, more data is available on which to compare materials and optimise modulator designs. Better modulators must result from such investigations.