Alignment and calibration of an infrared achromatic retarder using FTIR Mueller matrix spectropolarimetry

An infrared achromatic retarder was aligned and characterized using the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Fourier Transform Infrared(FTIR) Spectropolarimeter. The FTIR Spectropolarimeter produces a full polarization description of a sample over wavelengths 3-14 mu m. Mueller matrices were measured for different relative alignments between the complementary plates of the achromat until the retardance orientation variation was reduced to within +/-1 degrees and the retardance magnitude varied smoothly with a peak-to-valley difference of 24 degrees from 4-14 mu m. The results presented here include the progression of retardance magnitudes and retardance orientations as the plate alignment varied as well as the final Mueller matrix and retardance components of the achromat element.