Design and Performance Analysis of a Highly Efficient Polychromatic Full Stokes Polarization Modulator for the CRISP Imaging Spectrometer

We present the design and performance of a polychromatic polarization modulator for the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter (CRISP) Fabry-Perot tunable narrow-band imaging spectropolarimer at the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope (SST). We discuss the design process in depth, compare two possible modulator designs through a tolerance analysis, and investigate thermal sensitivity of the selected design. The trade-offs and procedures described in this paper are generally applicable in the development of broadband polarization modulators. The modulator was built and has been operational since 2015. Its measured performance is close to optimal between 500 and 900 nm, and differences between the design and as-built modulator are largely understood. We show some example data, and briefly review scientific work that used data from SST/CRISP and this modulator.

Automated summary

The paper presents the design and performance of a polychromatic polarization modulator for the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter at the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope. The trade-offs and procedures discussed in the paper are generally applicable in the development of broadband polarization modulators. The modulator has been operational since 2015, with measured performance close to optimal and differences between design and as-built modulator largely understood.