Specular, diffuse, and polarized light scattered by two wheat canopies

Using polarization measurements, the reflectance factor R(theta(i),phi(i),theta(r),phi(r)) of two wheat canopies is divided into components due to specularly and diffusely reflected light. The data show that two key angles may be predicted, the angle of the polarizer for minimum flux and the angle of incidence of sunlight specularly reflected by a leaf to a sensor. The results show that specular reflection is a key aspect to radiation transfer by two canopies. Results suggest that the advent of heading in wheat may be remotely sensed from polarization measurements of the canopy reflectance.     

Complete polarization state generator with one variable retarder and its application for fast and sensitive measuring of two-dimensional birefringence distribution

The complete polarization state generator (PSG), which consists of one rotatable polarizer and one variable retarder with a quarter-wave plate, is introduced. The orientation angle of its output polarization ellipse equals half of the retardance of the variable retarder, and the ellipticity angle corresponds to the polarizer azimuth. The PSG is employed in the quantitative orientation-independent differential polarization microscope, which uses polarized light states with the same ellipticity and different orientation angles. Image processing algorithms using three or four frames are described.     

Polarization separation of light in holographic grating reflection in conical mounting

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the interaction of linearly polarized light with a holographic grating in a conical mounting. Due to the periodic structure, the polarization properties of the reflected zeroth-order beam are highly sensitive to the conical angle. When a focused Gaussian beam with linear polarization impinges on an air–grating interface at an exceptional conical angle, a spatial splitting of the reflected beam is observed behind a polarizer. We find that it can be interpreted using the anisotropy of the polarization distribution in holographic grating reflection.     

Properties of light reflected from road signs in active imaging

Night vision systems in vehicles are a new emerging technology. A crucial problem in active (laser-based) systems is distortion of images by saturation and blooming due to strong retroreflections from road signs. We quantify this phenomenon. We measure the Mueller matrices and the polarization state of the reflected light from three different types of road sign commonly used. Measurements of the reflected intensity are also taken with respect to the angle of reflection. We find that different types of sign have different reflection properties. It is concluded that the optimal solution for attenuating the retroreflected intensity is using a linear polarized light source and a linear polarizer with perpendicular orientation (with regard to the source) at the detector. Unfortunately, while this solution performs well for two types of road sign, it is less efficient for the third sign type.     

Holographic quantum eraser experiment reveals polarization structure of depolarized light

It is shown that a holographic setup for real-time interferometry can be used to realize a quantum eraser (QE) experiment. Circular polarized light is used to distinguish between the photons of the reconstructed image of the object and the direct object wave consisting of scattered photons from the illuminated flat object. To erase the "which path information," a linear polarizer is used. The experimental results show that polarized light, after depolarizing reflection from a dielectric surface, contains an internal polarization structure, which can be described extending the well-known Jones vector formalism.     

新型偏振特性因子及其传递关系的研究

偏振遥感图像通常可以采用强度、偏振度、偏振角或HIS柱形彩色空间表征目标偏振特性.本文通过建立光束在多层介质中传递的简单模型,找到一种新型偏振特性因子.此偏振特性因子所成图像是偏振度图像和偏振角图像信息复合的结果,其实质反映了偏振光束中的线偏振光的光强相对含量及它的偏振角方向.对伪装过的车牌进行偏振成像,实验表明此偏振特性因子可以用于特定环境下的伪装辨别.     

High-Quality Brewster's Angle Polarizer for Broadband Infrared Application

We have designed and constructed a linear polarizer for use with visible and infrared radiation. The broadband polarizer consists of four germanium plates arranged in a chevron geometry. Input radiation is incident near Brewster's angle for the first plate such that the reflected beam is preferentially s-wave polarized. This reflected beam is steered subsequently to the successive plates, always intersecting near Brewster's angle. The beam polarization at the output of the device is almost completely s-wave polarized. The ratio of the paraxial flux of the nearly extinguished p-wave polarized light to the s-wave polarized light transmitted through the device is found to be less than 10(-5) for laser illumination at wavelengths of 0.633, 1.32, 3.39, and 10.6 mum. Calculations predict that extinction ratios less than 10(-5) are achievable over the wavelength range from 0.4 mum to beyond 500 mum. Alternative design geometries involving fewer plates are also described along with their advantages and disadvantages.     

Observation and modeling of polarized light from scarab beetles

The light reflected from scarab beetles illuminated with unpolarized white light is analyzed ellipsometrically and displayed as the sum of an elliptically polarized spectrum I(p) and an unpolarized spectrum I(u). A chirped stack of chiral resonators, each with a characteristic Bragg wavelength and partial realignment of birefringent material to a fixed axis, is proposed as a model for simulation of both reflection and polarization spectra. Possible mechanisms that effectively eliminate impedance mismatch at the air-elytron interface and allow some beetles to exhibit nearly perfect circularly polarized reflections are discussed. Results are presented for three representative beetles, Ischiosopha bifasciata, which is shown to be a narrowband left-circular polarizer; Chrysophora chrysochlora, a broadband left-circular polarizer; and Chrysina woodi, an elliptical polarizer. The methods that are developed are applicable to the more general problem of synthesis of reflectors with prescribed reflection and polarization spectra.     

Mueller-matrix ellipsometry using the division-of-amplitude photopolarimeter: a study of depolarization effects

A fully automated Mueller-matrix ellipsometer with a division-of-amplitude photopolarimeter as the polarization-state detector is described. This device achieves Mueller-matrix ellipsometry by measuring the Stokes parameters of reflected light as a function of the fast axis C of a quarter-wave retarder, which, in combination with a fixed linear polarizer, determines the polarization state of incident light. The reflected Stokes parameters were Fourier analyzed to give the 16 elements of the Mueller matrix. We investigated depolarization of polarized light on reflection from rough, heterogeneous, and anisotropic surfaces by obtaining measurements on rolled aluminum and plant leaves. The results demonstrate (1) a variation of degree of polarization of reflected light with the input polarization state, (2) the precision with which the measured matrices describe the depolarization results, (3) effects of surface anisotropy (rolling direction) on depolarization and cross polarization by reflection from aluminum surfaces, and (4) large values and differences in the depolarization effects from conifer and deciduous leaves. Depolarization of light reflected by the aluminum surfaces was most sensitive to the angle between the plane of incidence and the rolling direction when the incident Stokes parameters S(1), S(2), and S(3) were equal.     

Reduction of skylight reflection effects in the above-water measurement of diffuse marine reflectance: comment

Use of a vertical polarizer has been suggested to reduce the effects of surface reflection in the above-water measurements of marine reflectance. We suggest using a similar technique for airborne or spaceborne sensors when atmospheric scattering adds its own polarization signature to the upwelling radiance. Our own theoretical sensitivity study supports the recommendation of Fougnie et al. [Appl. Opt. 38, 3844 (1999)] (40-50 degrees vertical angle and azimuth angle near 135 degrees , polarizer parallel to the viewing plane) for above-water measurements. However, the optimal viewing directions (and the optimal orientation of the polarizer) change with altitude above the sea surface, solar angle, and atmospheric vertical optical structure. A polarization efficiency function is introduced, which shows the maximal possible polarization discrimination of the background radiation for an arbitrary altitude above the sea surface, viewing direction, and solar angle. Our comment is meant to encourage broader application of airborne and spaceborne polarization sensors in remote sensing of water and sea surface properties.     

Polarization-based index of refraction and reflection angle estimation for remote sensing applications

A passive-polarization-based imaging system records the polarization state of light reflected by objects that are illuminated with an unpolarized and generally uncontrolled source. Such systems can be useful in many remote sensing applications including target detection, object segmentation, and material classification. We present a method to jointly estimate the complex index of refraction and the reflection angle (reflected zenith angle) of a target from multiple measurements collected by a passive polarimeter. An expression for the degree of polarization is derived from the microfacet polarimetric bidirectional reflectance model for the case of scattering in the plane of incidence. Using this expression, we develop a nonlinear least-squares estimation algorithm for extracting an apparent index of refraction and the reflection angle from a set of polarization measurements collected from multiple source positions. Computer simulation results show that the estimation accuracy generally improves with an increasing number of source position measurements. Laboratory results indicate that the proposed method is effective for recovering the reflection angle and that the estimated index of refraction provides a feature vector that is robust to the reflection angle.     

Determining surface orientations of transparent objects based on polarization degrees in visible and infrared wavelengths

Techniques for modeling an object through observation are very important in object recognition and virtual reality. A wide variety of techniques have been developed for modeling objects with opaque surfaces, whereas less attention has been paid to objects with transparent surfaces. A transparent surface has only surface reflection; it has little body reflection. We present a new method for obtaining surface orientations of transparent surfaces through analysis of the degree of polarization in surface reflection and emission in visible and far-infrared wavelengths, respectively. This parameter, the polarization degree of reflected light at the visible wavelengths, is used for determining the surface orientation at a surface point. The polarization degree at visible wavelengths provides two possible solutions, and the proposed method uses the polarization degree at far-infrared wavelengths to resolve this ambiguity.     

Quarter-wave layers with 50% reflectance for obliquely incident unpolarized light

The conditions under which light interference in a transparent quarter-wave layer of refractive index n1 on a transparent substrate of refractive index n2 leads to 50% reflectance for incident unpolarized light at an angle phi are determined. Two distinct solution branches are obtained that correspond to light reflection above and below the polarizing angle, phi(p), of zero reflection for p polarization. The real p and s amplitude reflection coefficients have the same (negative) sign for the solution branch phi>phi(p) and have opposite signs for the solution branch phior=(square root 2+1)square root n2. A monochromatic design that uses a high-index TiO2 thin film on a low-index MgF2 substrate at 488 nm wavelength is presented as an example.     

A Method for the Optical Characterization of Thin Uniaxial Samples

An optical characterization procedure for small fragments of uniaxial materials is described involving the simple use of crossed polarizers with one polished face of the material. The reflectance at a fluid-uniaxial slab boundary beyond, but near, the critical angle of incident light is examined for linear incidence polarization using an orthogonal output polarizer. It is found that, as the crossed incident and output polarizers are rotated together, there are, for a given angle of incidence, particular polarization angles for which the reflectivity is a minimum. These angles give information on the optical tensor of the crystal under study. Further the intensity of the reflected light, for incidence angles beyond critical with the input and output polarizers crossed, has as a function of the incident polarization angle an oscillatory form which, when fitted to theory, can also yield the full uniaxial tensor of the material under study. This is confirmed experimentally for a thin single crystal of calcite with one polished face.     

Polarization and statistical analysis of scenes containing a semireflector

We present an approach to recover scenes deteriorated by reflections off a semireflecting medium (e.g., a glass window). The method, based on imaging through a polarizer at two or more orientations, separates the reflected and transmitted scenes and determines which is which. We analyze the polarization effects, taking into account internal reflections within the medium. The scene reconstruction requires the estimation of the orientation (inclination and tilt angles) of the transparent (invisible) surface. The inclination angle is estimated by seeking the value that leads to the minimal mutual information of the estimated scenes. The limitations and the consequences of noise and angle error are discussed, including a fundamental ambiguity in the determination of the plane of incidence. Experimental results demonstrate the success of angle estimation and consequent scene separation and labeling.     

KDP晶体光学均匀性检测实验研究

本文阐述了正交偏振干涉测量技术的基本原理和实验方法.Fizeau干涉仪的输出激光束经过线偏振镜后变为线偏振光,调整偏振方向让光束的偏振态分别平行于KDP晶体的o轴和e轴,得到两幅干涉图.通过这两幅干涉图的差值得到晶体的折射率分布不均匀性.该检测技术借助可改变输出激光偏振态的大口径干涉仪精确地测量晶体在切割方向上.光折射率和e光折射率的偏差.本文所采取的方法是在大口径干涉仪的小端口放入可改变偏振方向的线偏光镜.本文通过对一批330mm×330mm的大口径KDP晶体的折射率均匀性测量验证了该方法.     

Extinction of light in Brewster polarizers: a shadowlike phenomenon

A Brewster polarizer in this study is any dielectric plane reflecting surface reflecting light at or near the Brewster angle of incidence. In this paper, we consider an interesting phenomenon observed when we use an extended source of light or a cone of light with its axis incident on the plane surface at the Brewster angle. The resulting reflected light is viewed (a) through an ordinary sheet polarizer and (b) after reflection from another Brewster polarizer. The extinction pattern of light by such a system is in the form of an elongated black shadow in (a) and a nearly circular shadow in (b), respectively. These shadows are explained on the basis and use of the familiar Fresnel equations at a plane interface between two dielectric media. Photographs of the shadows are also presented.     

Efficiency of linear-to-circular polarization conversion for light reflection at the principal angle by a dielectric-conductor interface

The efficiency eta(LC) of linear-to-circular polarization conversion when light is reflected at a dielectric-conductor interface is determined as a function of the principal angle phi and principal azimuth psi . Constant-eta(LC) contours are presented in the phi , psi plane for values of eta(LC) from 0.5 to 1.0 in steps of 0.05, and the corresponding contours in the complex plane of the relative dielectric function are also determined. As specific examples, efficiencies > or = 88% are obtained for light reflection by a Ag mirror in the visible and near-IR (400-1200 nm) spectral range, and > or =40% for the reflection of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray radiation by a SiC mirror in the 60-120 nm wavelength range.     

Mueller matrices and information derived from linear polarization lidar measurements: theory

A Mueller matrix M is developed for a single-scattering process such that G(theta, phi) = T (phi(a))M T (phi(p))u, where u is the incident irradiance Stokes vector transmitted through a linear polarizer at azimuthal angle phi(p), with transmission Mueller matrix T (phi(p)), and G(theta, phi) is the polarized irradiance Stokes vector measured by a detector with a field of view F, placed after an analyzer with transmission Mueller matrix T (phi(a)) at angle phi(a). The Mueller matrix M is a function of the Mueller matrix S (theta) of the scattering medium, the scattering angle (theta, phi), and the detector field of view F. The Mueller matrixM is derived for backscattering and forward scattering, along with equations for the detector polarized irradiance measurements (e.g., cross polarization and copolarization) and the depolarization ratio. The information that can be derived from the Mueller matrix M on the scattering Mueller matrixS (theta) is limited because the detector integrates the cone of incoming radiance over a range of azimuths of 2pi for forward scattering and backscattering. However, all nine Mueller matrix elements that affect linearly polarized radiation can be derived if a spatial filter in the form of a pie-slice slit is placed in the focal plane of the detector and azimuthally dependent polarized measurements and azimuthally integrated polarized measurements are combined.     

Spectroscopic generalized ellipsometry based on fourier analysis

The extension of a spectroscopic ellipsometer that consists of a fixed polarizer, a rotating polarizer, a sample, and a fixed analyzer (PRPSE) to generalized ellipsometry to determining the generalized ellipsometric angles and the optical functions of an anisotropic medium is reported. The PRPSE configuration eliminates the polarization sensitivity of the light source. A general numerical technique has been derived to characterize the optical properties of the anisotropic material without intermediate generalized ellipsometric angles. The proposed method is experimentally verified for uniaxial mercuric iodide. The ordinary and the extraordinary refractive and absorption indices, respectively, N(o) = n(o)--ik(o) and N(e) = n(e)--ik(e), can be extracted directly from the Fourier coefficients measured by the PRPSE on a HgI(2) crystal face that contains the optical axis. The orientations of the optical axis with respect to the plane of incidence were also determined by direct analysis of the measured Fourier coefficients. Measurements were made of reflection across a spectral range of 1.5-4.13 eV at one angle of incidence (Phi = 70 degrees ) for several azimuths phi of the optical axis with respect to the plane of incidence. The generalized ellipsometric angles were obtained from numerical inversion by changes of both polarizer and analyzer azimuth angles P and A.