edu.ucar.opensky::articles:10328 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-26T14:51:42.305820 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d73n23tc Wavelength-diverse polarization modulators for Stokes polarimetry 2010-06-01T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d73n23tc https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.49.003580 Tomczyk, Steven author Casini, Roberto author de Wijn, Alfred G. author Nelson, Peter G. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher Information about the three-dimensional structure of solar magnetic fields is encoded in the polarized spectra of solar radiation by a host of physical processes. To extract this information, solar spectra must be obtained in a variety of magnetically sensitive spectral lines at high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution with high precision. The need to observe many different spectral lines drives the development of Stokes polarimeters with a high degree of wavelength diversity. We present a new paradigm for the design of polarization modulators that operate over a wide wavelength range with near optimal polarimetric efficiency and are directly applicable to the next generation of multi-line Stokes polarimeters. These modulators are not achromatic in the usual sense because their polarimetric properties vary with wavelength, but they do so in an optimal way. Thus we refer to these modulators as polychromatic. We present here the theory behind polychromatic modulators, illustrate the concept with design examples, and present the performance properties of a prototype polychromatic modulator. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2010 Optical Society of America. This paper was published in Applied Optics and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=ao-49-18-3580. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law. None eng geoscientificInformation