Asian Journal of Physics Vol. 30 Nos 8 & 9 (2021) 1307-1314

On three-dimensional polarization states of light


José J Gil1, Andreas Norrman2,3, Tero Setälä3 and Ari T Friberg3
1Department of Applied Physics, University of Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
2Photonics Laboratory, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
3Institute of Photonics, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland


As the electric field vector of a monochromatic optical field oscillates in a plane, truly three-dimensional polarization states of light necessitate polychromatic fields. We consider random three-dimensional polarization states, and employing the characteristic decomposition of the spectral polarization matrix we assess various physical properties of such light states. These properties include polarimetric purity (degree of polarization), the concept and measure of nonregularity, apparent dimensionality, spin angular momentum, and various anisotropies of the state. Polarization states endowed with these features are typically encountered in connection with fluctuating vectorial evanescent waves and highly focused random fields. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Polarized light, Degree of polarization, Nonregularity, Dimensionality.


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