TITLE:
Experimental Measurement of the Generalized Stokes Parameters of a Radially Polarized Random Electromagnetic Beam
AUTHORS:
Yongxin Liu, Songjie Luo, Jixiong Puri, Zenghui Gao
KEYWORDS:
Generalized Stokes Parameters, Electric Cross-Spectral Density Matrix, Young’s Double Slits, Mach-Zehnder Interferometer, Radially Polarized Stochastic Electromagnetic Beam
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Electromagnetic Analysis and Applications,
Vol.8 No.6,
June
17,
2016
ABSTRACT: Utilizing the
Young’s double slits and Mach-Zehnder interferometer, we proposed an
experimental method to measure the generalized Stokes parameters of a radially
polarized random electromagnetic beam. After the partially coherent beam
propagating through the Young’s double slits, the
interference fringe is obtained by the help of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer
consisting of apertures, quarter-wave plates and polarizers. The
electric cross-spectral density matrix is detected by the coherence degree of
interference fringe and the density of each single slit. The generalized Stokes
parameters can be obtained from the electric cross-spectral density matrix. This
experiment measures the generalized Stokes parameters of the random
electromagnetic beam successfully. The results show that the spectral degree of
coherence for copolarized cases (xx and yy) is similar with that for
cross-polaried cases (xy and yx) for the radially polarized random
electromagnetic beam. This method will help us determine the change of the
polarization and coherence of the light in propagation by detecting the change
of the generalized Stokes parameters.