Holistic and efficient calibration method for Mueller matrix imaging polarimeter with a high numerical aperture

High-numerical aperture (NA > 0.6) Mueller matrix imaging polarimeter (MMIP) (high-NA MMIP) is urgently needed for higher resolution. Usually, the working distance of high-NA MMIP is too short to perform in situ calibration by a usual reference sample, such as polarizer and retarder plates. The polarization effects of the substrate that attach the sample are never calibrated. So, the resolution and accuracy of the MMIP is hard to further promote. In this paper, a holistic and efficient calibration method is innovated for high-NA MMIP. Two film polarizers and a film retarder as well as a blank substrate are first adopted as the reference samples in calibration. Different from the conventional eigenvalue calibration method (ECM), the holistic calibration theory and process are established. All polarimetric errors arising from the devices, subsystems, and the substrate can be calibrated in one process. The normalized measurement error is less than 0.0024 for NA 0.95 MMIP, which is an order of magnitude lower than those of NA 0.1 and 0.2 MMIPs in publications. The excellent performance of calibrated high-NA MMIP is demonstrated by tissue polarimetry with higher resolution, accuracy, and more appropriate dynamic range.