Holistic and in situ calibration method for a spectral-temporally modulated Mueller spectropolarimeter

The spectral-temporally modulated Mueller spectropolarimeter (STMSP) offers advantages of broader band limitation, better resolution, and faster detection speed. However, the current STMSP calibration method separates the polarization state generator and analyzer, necessitating subsequent recombination, which is inefficient and unstable. In this paper, a holistic and in situ calibration method for STMSP is proposed. It only requires insertion of a polarizer as a reference sample, eliminating the need for separate calibration and recombination. The STMSP is calibrated in situ as a whole, addressing the misalignment error of the spectral modulation module, the total polarimetric errors of the temporal modulation module, and the spectral modulation transfer function of the spectrometer. Experimental results demonstrate high accuracy, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.0004, which is an order of magnitude lower than that of the dual-rotating retarder spectropolarimeter (DRRSP) after eigenvalue calibration. This demonstrates its potential for enabling faster and more accurate acquisition of the Mueller spectra.