Mueller matrix polarimetry using full Poincare beams

Full Poincare beams (FPBs) are proposed for polarimetric applications. Such beams present all states of totally polarized light across their transverse section at once and therefore can be considered as parallel polarization state generators. A simple setup, including a FPB as input light, has been designed and implemented to measure the Mueller matrix of a homogeneous sample. The FPB is generated by focusing a linearly polarized laser beam onto the front face of a uniaxial crystal, having its optic axis along the propagation direction of the beam. Measurement of the polarization state of the input and output beams at four different positions are sufficient to obtain a complete polarimetric characterization of the sample. A quantitative analysis of the main error sources is also presented. To experimentally validate the proposed approach, retarders and linear polarizers are used as WA samples. The polarization states of the input and output fields are measured using a commercial polarimeter. An excellent agreement is found between experimental and theoretical Mueller matrices.