We developed an ultrahigh-resolution full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) microscope that is based on the spatial, rather than the temporal, coherence gating. The microscope is capable of observing three-dimensional microbiological structures as small as 0.4 μm × 0.4 μm × 1.0 μm (xyz) using quasi-monochromatic light and a liquid crystal retarder. Unlike traditional FF-OCT systems, t...

A W: B4C multilayer phase retarder has been designed and characterized which shows a nearly constant phase retardance between 640 and 850 eV photon energies when operated near the Bragg condition. This freestanding transmission multilayer was used successfully to determine, for the first time, the full polarization vector at soft x-ray energies above 600 eV, which was not possible before due to...

The net differential phase shift Delta(t) introduced between the orthogonal p and s linear polarizations after four successive total internal reflections inside an in-line chevron dual-Fresnel-rhomb retarder is a function of the first internal angle of incidence phi and prism refractive index n. Retardance of 3lambda/4 (i.e., Delta(t)=270 degrees) is achieved with minimum angular sensitivity wh...

We investigate the various contrast mechanisms provided by polarization-sensitive (PS) Mueller-matrix optical coherence tomography (OCT). Our PS multichannel Mueller-matrix OCT is the first, to our knowledge, to offer simultaneously comprehensive polarization-contrast mechanisms, including the amplitude of birefringence, the orientation of birefringence, and the diattenuation in addition to the...

A meanderline wave retarder is a unique type of frequency-selective-surface (FSS) that enables a change in the state of optical polarization. The principles of operation are very similar to a typical crystalline waveplate, such that the artificially structured meanderline array has both 'slow' and 'fast' axes that provide a phase offset between two orthogonal wave components. In this paper, we ...

The Poincaré Equivalence Theorem states that any optical element which contains no absorbing components can be replaced by an equivalent optical model which consists of one linear retarder and one rotator only, both of which are uniquely determined. This has many useful applications in the field of Optics of Polarized Light. In particular, it arises naturally in attempts to reconstruct spatiall...

This paper reports the generation of an extra phase and accompanying temporal effects in asymmetric optically compensated in-pane-switching (IPS) liquid crystal (LC) system a fringe-field-switching (FFS) display (LCD) exhibiting twofold faster response speed switching-off process compared with that single symmetric IPS-LCDs FFS LCDs for first time. To explain experimental results, we derived ap...

Scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) was developed to provide objective assessment of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), a birefringent tissue, by measuring the total retardation in the reflected light. The birefringence of the anterior segment of the eye, mainly the cornea, is a confounding variable to the RNFL measurement. Anterior segment birefringence varies over a wide range among individua...