The polarization characteristics of unpolarized light passing through a double wedge depolarizer are studied. It is found that the degree of polarization of the radiation propagating after the depolarizer is uniform across transverse planes after the depolarizer, but it changes from one plane to another in a periodic way giving, at different distances, unpolarized, partially polarized, or even perfectly polarized light. An experiment is performed to confirm this result. Measured values of the Stokes parameters and of the degree of polarization are in complete agreement with the theoretical predictions.

© 2012 OSA

1. J. P. McGuire and R. A. Chipman, “Analysis of spatial pseudodepolarizers in imaging systems,” Opt. Eng.29, 1478–1484 (1990). [CrossRef]
2. S. C. McClain, R. A. Chipman, and L. W. Hillman“Aberrations of a horizontal/vertical depolarizer,” Appl. Opt.31, 2326–2331 (1992). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. M. El Sherif, M.S. Khalil, S. Khodeir, and N. Nagib, “Simple depolarizers for spectrophotometric measurements of anisotropic samples,” Opt. & Laser Technol.28, 561–563 (1996). [CrossRef]
4. G. Biener, A. Niv, V. Kleiner, and E. Hasman, “Computer-generated infrared depolarizer using space-variant subwavelength dielectric gratings,” Opt. Lett.28, 1400–1402 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
5. V. A. Bagan, B. L. Davydov, and I. E. Samartsev, “Characteristics of Cornu depolarisers made from quartz and paratellurite optically active crystals,” Quant. Electron.39, 73–78 (2009). [CrossRef]
6. C. Vena, C. Versace, G. Strangi, and R. Bartolino, “Light depolarization by non-uniform polarization distribution over a beam cross section,” J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt.11, 125704–10 (2009). [CrossRef]
7. J. C. G. de Sande, G. Piquero, and C. Teijeiro, “Polarization changes at Lyot depolarizer output for different types of input beams,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A29, 278–284 (2012). [CrossRef]
8. F. Gori, M. Santarsiero, S. Vicalvi, and R. Borghi, “Beam coherence-polarization matrix,” Pure and Appl. Opt.7, 941–951 (1998). [CrossRef]
9. F. Gori, M. Santarsiero, R. Borghi, and G. Guattari, “The irradiance of partially polarized beams in a scalar treatment,” Opt. Commun.163, 159–163 (1999). [CrossRef]
10. G. P. Agrawal and E. Wolf, “Propagation-induced polarization changes in partially coherent optical beams,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A17, 2019–2023 (2000). [CrossRef]
11. E. Wolf, “Unified theory of coherence and polarization of random electromagnetic beams,” Phys. Lett. A312, 263–267 (2003). [CrossRef]
12. F. Gori, M. Santarsiero, R. Borghi, and E. Wolf, “Effects of coherence on the degree of polarization in a Young interference pattern,” Opt. Lett.31, 688–690 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
13. M. Salem and E. Wolf “Coherence-induced polarization changes in light beams,” Opt. Lett.33, 1180–1182 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
14. T. D. Visser, D. Kuebel, M. Lahiri, T. Shirai, and E. Wolf, “Unpolarized light beams with different coherence properties,” J. Mod. Opt.56, 1369–1374 (2009). [CrossRef]
15. F. Gori, J. Tervo, and J. Turunen, “Correlation matrices of completely unpolarized beams,” Opt. Lett.34, 1447–1449 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
16. R. Martínez-Herrero and P. M. Mejías, “On the propagation of random electromagnetic fields with position-independent stochastic behavior,” Opt. Commun.283, 4467–4469 (2010). [CrossRef]
17. H. Lotem and U. Taor, “Low-loss bireflectant (double reflection) polarization prism,” Appl. Opt.25, 1271–1273 (1985). [CrossRef]
18. L. V. Alekseeva, I. V. Povkh, V. I. Stroganov, B. I. Kidyarov, and P. G. Pasko, “Four-ray splitting in optical crystals,” J. Opt. Technol.39, 441–443 (2002). [CrossRef]
19. V. Kuznetsov, D. Faleiev, E. Savin, and V. Lebedev, “Crystal-based device for combining light beams,” Opt. Lett.34, 2856–2857 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
20. E. Wolf, Introduction to the Theory of Coherence and Polarization of Light (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007).
21. S. C. McClain, L. W. Hillman, and R. A. Chipman, “Polarization ray tracing in anisotropic optically active media. II. Theory and physics,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A10, 2383–2393 (1993). [CrossRef]
22. M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics (Cambridge U. Press, 7th expanded, Cambridge, 1999).
23. F. Gori, “Measuring Stokes parameters by means of a polarization grating,” Opt. Lett.24, 584–586 (1999). [CrossRef]
24. G. Piquero, R. Borghi, and M. Santarsiero, “Gaussian Schell-model beams propagating through polarization gratings,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A18, 1399–1405 (2001). [CrossRef]
25. H. F. Talbot, “Facts relating to optical science,” Phil. Mag.9, 401–407 (1836).
26. V. Arrizón, E. Tepichin, M. Ortíz-Gutiérrez, and A.W. Lohmann, “Fresnel diffraction at l/4 of the Talbot distance of an anisotropic grating,” Opt. Commun.127, 171–175 (1996). [CrossRef]
27. J. Tervo and J. Turunen, “Transverse and longitudinal periodicities in fields produced by polarization gratings,” Opt. Commun.190, 51–57 (2001). [CrossRef]
28. Z. Bomzon, A. Niv, G. Biener, V. Kleiner, and E. Hasman, “Polarization Talbot self-imaging with computer-generated, space-variant subwavelength dielectric gratings,” Appl. Opt.41, 5218–5222 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
29. S. C. McClain, L. W. Hillman, and R. A. Chipman, “Polarization ray tracing in anisotropic optically active media. I. Algorithms,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A10, 2371–2382 (1993). [CrossRef]
30. Z. Zhang and H. J. Caufield, “Reflection and refraction by interfaces of uniaxial crystals,” Opt. & Laser Technol.28, 549–553 (1996). [CrossRef]
31. G. Ghosh, “Dispersion-equation coefficients for the refractive index and birefringence of calcite and quartz crystals,” Opt. Commun.163, 95–102 (1999). [CrossRef]

Agrawal, G. P.
Alekseeva, L. V.
Arrizón, V.
Bagan, V. A.
Bartolino, R.
Biener, G.
Bomzon, Z.
Borghi, R.
Born, M.
Caufield, H. J.
Chipman, R. A.
Davydov, B. L.
de Sande, J. C. G.
El Sherif, M.
Faleiev, D.
Ghosh, G.
Gori, F.
Guattari, G.
Hasman, E.
Hillman, L. W.
Khalil, M.S.
Khodeir, S.
Kidyarov, B. I.
Kleiner, V.
Kuebel, D.
Kuznetsov, V.
Lahiri, M.
Lebedev, V.
Lohmann, A.W.
Lotem, H.
Martínez-Herrero, R.
McClain, S. C.
McGuire, J. P.
Mejías, P. M.
Nagib, N.
Niv, A.
Ortíz-Gutiérrez, M.
Pasko, P. G.
Piquero, G.
Povkh, I. V.
Salem, M.
Samartsev, I. E.
Santarsiero, M.
Savin, E.
Shirai, T.
Strangi, G.
Stroganov, V. I.
Talbot, H. F.
Taor, U.
Teijeiro, C.
Tepichin, E.
Tervo, J.
Turunen, J.
Vena, C.
Versace, C.
Vicalvi, S.
Visser, T. D.
Wolf, E.
Zhang, Z.

Appl. Opt.

• S. C. McClain, R. A. Chipman, and L. W. Hillman“Aberrations of a horizontal/vertical depolarizer,” Appl. Opt.31, 2326–2331 (1992). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• H. Lotem and U. Taor, “Low-loss bireflectant (double reflection) polarization prism,” Appl. Opt.25, 1271–1273 (1985). [CrossRef]
• Z. Bomzon, A. Niv, G. Biener, V. Kleiner, and E. Hasman, “Polarization Talbot self-imaging with computer-generated, space-variant subwavelength dielectric gratings,” Appl. Opt.41, 5218–5222 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

J. Mod. Opt.

• T. D. Visser, D. Kuebel, M. Lahiri, T. Shirai, and E. Wolf, “Unpolarized light beams with different coherence properties,” J. Mod. Opt.56, 1369–1374 (2009). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt.

• C. Vena, C. Versace, G. Strangi, and R. Bartolino, “Light depolarization by non-uniform polarization distribution over a beam cross section,” J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt.11, 125704–10 (2009). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. A

• J. C. G. de Sande, G. Piquero, and C. Teijeiro, “Polarization changes at Lyot depolarizer output for different types of input beams,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A29, 278–284 (2012). [CrossRef]
• G. P. Agrawal and E. Wolf, “Propagation-induced polarization changes in partially coherent optical beams,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A17, 2019–2023 (2000). [CrossRef]
• S. C. McClain, L. W. Hillman, and R. A. Chipman, “Polarization ray tracing in anisotropic optically active media. II. Theory and physics,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A10, 2383–2393 (1993). [CrossRef]
• G. Piquero, R. Borghi, and M. Santarsiero, “Gaussian Schell-model beams propagating through polarization gratings,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A18, 1399–1405 (2001). [CrossRef]
• S. C. McClain, L. W. Hillman, and R. A. Chipman, “Polarization ray tracing in anisotropic optically active media. I. Algorithms,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A10, 2371–2382 (1993). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Technol.

• L. V. Alekseeva, I. V. Povkh, V. I. Stroganov, B. I. Kidyarov, and P. G. Pasko, “Four-ray splitting in optical crystals,” J. Opt. Technol.39, 441–443 (2002). [CrossRef]

Opt. & Laser Technol.

• M. El Sherif, M.S. Khalil, S. Khodeir, and N. Nagib, “Simple depolarizers for spectrophotometric measurements of anisotropic samples,” Opt. & Laser Technol.28, 561–563 (1996). [CrossRef]
• Z. Zhang and H. J. Caufield, “Reflection and refraction by interfaces of uniaxial crystals,” Opt. & Laser Technol.28, 549–553 (1996). [CrossRef]

Opt. Commun.

• G. Ghosh, “Dispersion-equation coefficients for the refractive index and birefringence of calcite and quartz crystals,” Opt. Commun.163, 95–102 (1999). [CrossRef]
• V. Arrizón, E. Tepichin, M. Ortíz-Gutiérrez, and A.W. Lohmann, “Fresnel diffraction at l/4 of the Talbot distance of an anisotropic grating,” Opt. Commun.127, 171–175 (1996). [CrossRef]
• J. Tervo and J. Turunen, “Transverse and longitudinal periodicities in fields produced by polarization gratings,” Opt. Commun.190, 51–57 (2001). [CrossRef]
• R. Martínez-Herrero and P. M. Mejías, “On the propagation of random electromagnetic fields with position-independent stochastic behavior,” Opt. Commun.283, 4467–4469 (2010). [CrossRef]
• F. Gori, M. Santarsiero, R. Borghi, and G. Guattari, “The irradiance of partially polarized beams in a scalar treatment,” Opt. Commun.163, 159–163 (1999). [CrossRef]

Opt. Eng.

• J. P. McGuire and R. A. Chipman, “Analysis of spatial pseudodepolarizers in imaging systems,” Opt. Eng.29, 1478–1484 (1990). [CrossRef]

Opt. Lett.

• G. Biener, A. Niv, V. Kleiner, and E. Hasman, “Computer-generated infrared depolarizer using space-variant subwavelength dielectric gratings,” Opt. Lett.28, 1400–1402 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• V. Kuznetsov, D. Faleiev, E. Savin, and V. Lebedev, “Crystal-based device for combining light beams,” Opt. Lett.34, 2856–2857 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• F. Gori, M. Santarsiero, R. Borghi, and E. Wolf, “Effects of coherence on the degree of polarization in a Young interference pattern,” Opt. Lett.31, 688–690 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• M. Salem and E. Wolf “Coherence-induced polarization changes in light beams,” Opt. Lett.33, 1180–1182 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• F. Gori, “Measuring Stokes parameters by means of a polarization grating,” Opt. Lett.24, 584–586 (1999). [CrossRef]
• F. Gori, J. Tervo, and J. Turunen, “Correlation matrices of completely unpolarized beams,” Opt. Lett.34, 1447–1449 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Phil. Mag.

• H. F. Talbot, “Facts relating to optical science,” Phil. Mag.9, 401–407 (1836).

Phys. Lett. A

• E. Wolf, “Unified theory of coherence and polarization of random electromagnetic beams,” Phys. Lett. A312, 263–267 (2003). [CrossRef]

Pure and Appl. Opt.

• F. Gori, M. Santarsiero, S. Vicalvi, and R. Borghi, “Beam coherence-polarization matrix,” Pure and Appl. Opt.7, 941–951 (1998). [CrossRef]

Quant. Electron.

• V. A. Bagan, B. L. Davydov, and I. E. Samartsev, “Characteristics of Cornu depolarisers made from quartz and paratellurite optically active crystals,” Quant. Electron.39, 73–78 (2009). [CrossRef]

Other

• E. Wolf, Introduction to the Theory of Coherence and Polarization of Light (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007).
• M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics (Cambridge U. Press, 7th expanded, Cambridge, 1999).

2012, de Sande, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A
2010, Martínez-Herrero, Opt. Commun.
2009, Bagan, Quant. Electron.
2009, Vena, J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt.
2009, Visser, J. Mod. Opt.
2009, Gori, Opt. Lett.
2009, Kuznetsov, Opt. Lett.
2008, Salem, Opt. Lett.
2006, Gori, Opt. Lett.
2003, Biener, Opt. Lett.
2003, Wolf, Phys. Lett. A
2002, Alekseeva, J. Opt. Technol.
2002, Bomzon, Appl. Opt.
2001, Piquero, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A
2001, Tervo, Opt. Commun.
2000, Agrawal, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A
1999, Gori, Opt. Lett.
1999, Ghosh, Opt. Commun.
1999, Gori, Opt. Commun.
1998, Gori, Pure and Appl. Opt.
1996, El Sherif, Opt. & Laser Technol.
1996, Zhang, Opt. & Laser Technol.
1996, Arrizón, Opt. Commun.
1993, McClain, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A
1993, McClain, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A
1992, McClain, Appl. Opt.
1990, McGuire, Opt. Eng.
1985, Lotem, Appl. Opt.
1836, Talbot, Phil. Mag.

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