Abstract

An analysis of the clusters and the uniformity of distribution of states of polarization on the surface of a Poincaré sphere generated by rotating wave plates is given. The analysis of clusters of the states of polarization is based on a spherical radial distribution function. For uniform analysis of the distribution, two methods are proposed. The first method is based on calculation of the correlation coefficient; the second method is based on calculation of the angles between pairs of the states of polarization on the Poincaré sphere. For polarization scramblers consisting of eight or more rotating wave plates, nonclustered and near-uniform distribution of states of polarization is obtained.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

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