High-performance Mueller matrix imaging polarimeter based on liquid crystal variable retarders

The Mueller Matrix Imaging Polarimeter (MMIP) has attracted widespread attention in biomedical fields, including endoscopy, cancer diagnosis, and characterization of tissue optical clearing. Achieving fast detection and high measurement accuracy is vital for these applications of MMIP. Therefore, an automated data acquisition and processing system is very important for the effective application of MMIP. We have demonstrated the implementation of an MMIP setup using liquid crystal variable phase retarders (LCVRs) and corresponding software programmed in LabVIEW for efficient data acquisition and processing. The measurement results of air show that the LCVRs-MMIP achieves high measurement accuracy (error≤0.17%). Additionally, measurements on polarizers, wave plates, and vortex wave plates further demonstrate the high-performance capabilities of the LCVRs-MMIP.