Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Invariant polarimetric contrast parameters of coherent light

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

Many applications use an active coherent illumination and analyze the variation of the polarization state of optical signals. However, as a result of the use of coherent light, these signals are generally strongly perturbed with speckle noise. This is the case, for example, for active polarimetric imaging systems that are useful for enhancing contrast between different elements in a scene. We propose a rigorous definition of the minimal set of parameters that characterize the difference between two coherent and partially polarized states. Indeed, two states of partially polarized light are a priori defined by eight parameters, for example, their two Stokes vectors. We demonstrate that the processing performance for such signal processing tasks as detection, localization, or segmentation of spatial or temporal polarization variations is uniquely determined by two scalar functions of these eight parameters. These two scalar functions are the invariant parameters that define the polarimetric contrast between two polarized states of coherent light. Different polarization configurations with the same invariant contrast parameters will necessarily lead to the same performance for a given task, which is a desirable quality for a rigorous contrast measure. The definition of these polarimetric contrast parameters simplifies the analysis and the specification of processing techniques for coherent polarimetric signals.

© 2002 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Invariant polarimetric contrast parameters of light with Gaussian fluctuations in three dimensions

Philippe Réfrégier, Muriel Roche, and François Goudail
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 23(1) 124-133 (2006)

Bhattacharyya distance as a contrast parameter for statistical processing of noisy optical images

François Goudail, Philippe Réfrégier, and Guillaume Delyon
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 21(7) 1231-1240 (2004)

Target segmentation in active polarimetric images by use of statistical active contours

François Goudail and Philippe Réfrégier
Appl. Opt. 41(5) 874-883 (2002)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (4)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Equations (61)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved