Full Stokes Polarimetry for Wide‐Angle Incident Light

Abstract

Polarimetry, the process of characterizing the polarization state of light in the target scene, plays a significant role in optical detection. A compact and wide‐angle polarimeter is important in applications such as atmospheric environment and wave‐front detection. However, the existing methods for polarimetry are often restricted to a fixed incident angle, which restrains the potential applications in wide‐angle scenarios. Herein, a new kind of polarimeter, which can detect the incident angle and polarization state of incident light simultaneously, is demonstrated. The metasurface‐based wide‐angle polarimeter consists of 2 × 3 subarrays, which simultaneously controls the polarization and phase of light. The angle of incidence is obtained by the focus displacement of the quadratic lens at a large angle up to 40°. Moreover, the polarimetry for wide‐angle incident light is realized by the modified Stokes parameters. The proposed method enables simple and large‐field‐of‐view optical devices for wave‐front detection, biomedical imaging, and atmospheric environment detection.