Abstract

A new four-channel partial polarimeter has been designed and fabricated for use in time-resolved ellipsometry measurements. The device outputs four parallel equispaced beams from a single input beam. By detecting and digitizing the intensities of these four beams, the intensity as well and two of the three elements of the reduced Stokes vector can be determined. The time resolution of the device is limited only by the photodetectors and digitizers used; nanosecond time resolution is possible with either photodiodes or phototubes as photodetectors, and picosecond time resolution is possible with a streak camera as both photodetector and digitizer.

© 1988 Optical Society of America