A new type of optical heterodyne polarimeter

Phase variations occur when a circularly polarized light beam either passes through a chiral solution or is reflected from a non-absorbing material. They can be measured accurately with a circular heterodyne interferometry. These data are substituted into the special equations derived from Jones calculus. The chiral parameter and the average refractive index of a chiral solution can be estimated simultaneously in just one optical configuration. This polarimeter has the merits of both the common-path interferometer and the heterodyne interferometer. The proposed device was validated in this work.