Polarization Optics Tutorial:Polarizers, Waveplates, Rotators, and Lyot Filters 2005 Ray WilliamsonRay Williamson Consultingwww.ray-optics.comIntroductionWe will discuss polarized light; some of the optical components used to control, direct, andmodify it; and applications. This tutorial is intended to be an accessible introduction totechnicians, buyers, and generalists; and to be useful to engineers, designers, and qualityassurance personnel.What is Light?For our purposes here we will treat light as a transversely oscillating electromagnetic wavepropagating from a source, and we will consider only the electrical field. As with all waves,amplitude, frequency and phase are essential parts of the description. Because the electric fieldvibration is transverse to the direction of propagation, we also need to account for the orientationof the electric field vector (e-vector).What is polarization?Polarization is the state of the e-vector orientation. We may use an XYZ coordinate system inwhich Z is the direction of propagation. Since light is a transverse wave, the polarization statecan be analyzed by projecting the e-vector onto arbitrary orthogonal axes called X and Y, thenevaluating these projected components. Viewed across time, the relationship of X and Yprojections may be fully or partly disordered, and any ordered portion will have a phase andamplitude relation between X and Y components.It will be helpful here to imagine light propagating ...
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