Point by point calibration method for simultaneous polarization imaging system based on large field polarization imaging theory

Because the optical surfaces inside a simultaneous polarization imaging system and the vignetting of the edge field change the polarization state of incident light, the polarization information reconstructed by the system can be inaccurate. We propose a point-by-point instrument matrix calibration method considering the edge field with an integrating sphere plus a rotating polarizer as a polarization-controlled light source, and we carry out a non-contact detection experiment of the tilt angle of flat glass using a simultaneous image polarimetry with double separate Wollaston prism. The experimental results indicate that the degree of linear polarization, angle of polarization, and angle of incidence can be reconstructed more accurately by the system calibrated with the point-by-point instrument matrix. It improves the detection accuracy of the polarization state of the transparent medium surface and lays the theoretical foundation for the research of polarization imaging and the application of quantitative detection.