Polarization State Generator

incidence angle iterator

This Demonstration plots constant phase retardation contours in the complex

χ

plane. The experimental setup consists of two liquid crystal (LC) retarders and a polarizer. The set of circles centered on the real and imaginary axes represent the polarization states generated with constant phase retardation from LC1 and LC2. The circles span the entire complex

χ

plane, showing that any state of polarization can be generated.