Non-uniformity correction of polarization response for liquid crystal modulated polarimeters

Liquid crystal modulated polarimeters (LCMPs) are often used to detect the full polarization information of target scenes. In this study, a non-uniformity correction method based on reference source calibration for LCMP is proposed. We analyze the error sources of the polarimeter and establish a grayscale response model with non-uniformity noises. The gain and bias correction coefficient of each pixel is calculated based on the linear response property of the detector. The polarization parameters of each detection unit of the uniform light source with the same polarization state calculated by the corrected, Stokes vector are uniform. Results show that the error of the degree of linear polarization is reduced by 5.08%, and the degree of circular polarization is reduced by 19%. Therefore, the proposed method effectively improves the non-uniformity and detection accuracy of polarimeters. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America