Single-shot multispectral birefringence mapping by supercontinuum vector beams

Abstract

We demonstrated a single-shot, multispectral birefringence mapping by use of a supercontinuum (SC) vector beam. The vector beam, which was generated by a pair of axially symmetric wave plates, leads to angular-variant polarization modulation to divide birefringence properties of a sample substrate into Fourier space. This strategy allows multispectral birefringence mapping from a single-shot image captured by a multispectral imaging detector. For SC vector beam analysis, we also compensated the retardance error of the axially symmetric wave plate in the superbroadband spectrum. Resolutions of retardance and azimuthal angle were 0.4 degrees and 0.2 degrees, respectively, and the spatial resolution was 60 mu m. Those results are expected to provide us a single-shot, multispectral birefringence mapping with high spatial resolution as compared with using a scanning laser microscope. Our proposal has extendibility to develop high-speed, high-resolution birefringence imaging spectroscopy. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America