Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry system for glucose sensing

Abstract

A Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry system consisting of a polarization scanning generator (PSG) and a high-accuracy Stokes polarimeter is used to sense the glucose concentration in aqueous solutions with and without scattering effects, respectively. In the proposed system, an electro-optic (EO) modulator driven by a saw-tooth waveform voltage is used to perform full state of polarization (linear/circular) scanning, while a self-built Stokes polarimeter is used to obtain dynamic measurements of the output polarized light intensity. It is shown that the measured output Stokes vectors have an accuracy of 10−4, i.e., one order higher than that of existing commercial Stokes polarimeters. The experimental results show that the optical rotation angle varies linearly with the glucose concentration over the range of 0-0.5g/dl. Moreover, glucose sensing is successfully achieved at concentrations as low as 0.02g/dl with a resolution of 10−6deg/mm and an average deviation of 10−4deg. In general, the polarimetry system proposed in this study provides a fast and reliable method for measuring the Stokes vectors, and thus has significant potential for biological sensing applications.