Snapshot compressive imaging full-Stokes polarimeter

The advantage of polarization makes it feasible to gain the contrast of an object and to extend the information of the scene as compared with conventional intensity images, since the information added by polarimetric images is complementary to the intensity ones. The use of polarization is of considerable value for nondestructive detection, biomedical diagnosis, etc. Here, a snapshot full-Stokes imaging polarimeter based on compressive sensing was presented. By combining a wave plate and a Wollaston prism, a full-Stokes polarization compressed measurement with a compression ratio of 50% was carried out, and the spatial resolution of the division-of-aperture polarimeter was improved effectively. Besides, the measurement matrix is optimized to improve the quality of image reconstruction. Computer simulation results are reported, followed by experimental demonstrations.