Foreman K D, Gay T J
Jorgensen Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0299, USA.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2023 Oct 1;94(10). doi: 10.1063/5.0165103.
Unpolarized light can be an important tool in optical experiments. Producing it, however, can prove to be a challenge. Natural sources of light that are commonly thought of as unpolarized are, in fact, either weakly polarized or not practical sources of light in a laboratory setting. Standard, commercially available light depolarizers produce unpolarized light only after the polarization state of the light across the diameter of the output beam has been averaged. Locally, such beams are highly polarized. In this work, we report a simple, low cost light depolarizer capable of producing light with a total polarization of less than 1% for a 15-mm diameter output beam. Based upon diffuse scattering, the light transmitted through the depolarizer discussed here produces only small polarizations locally, with the total polarization for a 1.25-mm diameter area being <6%. The effects of the depolarizer on the transmitted beam's intensity are also reported.
非偏振光在光学实验中可以是一种重要工具。然而，产生非偏振光可能被证明是一项挑战。通常被认为是非偏振光的自然光来源，实际上要么是弱偏振的，要么在实验室环境中不是实用的光源。标准的市售光消偏器只有在输出光束直径上的光的偏振态被平均之后才产生非偏振光。在局部区域，这样的光束是高度偏振的。在这项工作中，我们报告了一种简单、低成本的光消偏器，对于直径为15毫米的输出光束，它能够产生总偏振度小于1%的光。基于漫散射，这里讨论的通过消偏器传输的光在局部仅产生小的偏振，对于直径为1.25毫米的区域，总偏振度小于6%。还报告了消偏器对传输光束强度的影响。
