Revealing the Electric and Magnetic Nature of the Scattered Light

The multipolar expansion of the electromagnetic field plays a key role in the study of light-matter interactions. All the information about the radiation and coupling between the incident wavefield and the object is embodied in the electric and magnetic scattering coefficients of the expansion. However, the experimental determination of requires measuring the components of the scattered field in all directions, something that is exceptionally challenging. Here, we demonstrate that a single measurement of the Stokes vector unlocks access to the quadrivector . Thus, our Stokes polarimetry method allows us to capture and separately, a distinction that can not be achieved by measuring the total energy of the scattered field via an integrating sphere. Moreover, the determination of enables us to infer the amplitude of the scattered field at all points of the radiation zone, including the amplitude of the near-field distribution generated by the objects. Importantly, we demonstrate the robustness of our Stokes polarimetry method, showing its fidelity with just two measurements of the Stokes vector at different scattering angles.