Single-Shot high Bandwidth-Utilization Jones matrix measurement based on Kramers–Kronig holographic multiplexing

Abstract

Polarization imaging plays a crucial role in optical measurements by providing enhanced contrast and anisotropic information. Polarization imaging methods based on the Jones formalism can simultaneously capture light intensity, phase, and polarization information, thereby providing comprehensive representations of polarization states. However, existing Jones matrix measurements predominantly utilize off-axis holography, leading to ineffective bandwidth utilization. Although alternative methods can enlarge system bandwidth, they often require multiple measurements and iterative computations, which limit real-time applications. In this work, by enhancing the conventional Mach-Zehnder interferometer, we propose a slightly off-axis wavelength-division multiplexed digital holographic (SWDH) system that leverages the Kramers-Kronig (KK) relations for Jones matrix measurement. Compared with the off-axis holography-based method, our method not only doubles the bandwidth utilization from 39.27% to 78.54%, but also enables real-time measurement without iterative calculations. To verify the effectiveness of this method, we conducted simulations and experiments on various kinds of samples, and even a dynamic biological birefringence sample. The results demonstrated that the proposed system represents a significant advancement in polarization imaging, offering both high accuracy and real-time performance in the polarization measurement of samples exhibiting anisotropic characteristics.