Noise minimization and equalization for Stokes polarimeters in the presence of signal-dependent Poisson shot noise

We address the optimization of Stokes polarimeters in the presence of signal-dependent shot noise, which is the dominant type of noise in certain imaging systems. We show that in some precise sense, the polarimeters optimal for additive noise are also optimal for such noise and propose polarimeter architectures in which noise variances are equalized and independent of the input polarization state. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America