Error analysis and optimal design of polarization calibration unit for solar telescope

Polarization calibration unit（PCU） has become an indispensable element for solar telescopes to remove the instrumental polarization; the polarimetric accuracy of calibration depends strongly on the properties of PCU. In the paper, we analyze the measurement errors induced by PCU based on polarized l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChinese physics B Vol. 26; no. 8; pp. 603 - 611
Main Author 侯俊峰 王东光 邓元勇 孙英姿 张志勇
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.08.2017
Subjects
PCU
优化设计
偏振光
太阳望远镜
定标
极化校准
缺陷产生
误差分析
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ISSN1674-1056
2058-3834
DOI10.1088/1674-1056/26/8/089501

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Summary:Polarization calibration unit（PCU） has become an indispensable element for solar telescopes to remove the instrumental polarization; the polarimetric accuracy of calibration depends strongly on the properties of PCU. In the paper, we analyze the measurement errors induced by PCU based on polarized light theory and find that the imperfections of the waveplate generate the main calibration errors. An optimized calibration method is proposed to avoid the effects from waveplate imperfections, and a numerical simulation is given to evaluate the polarization accuracy by analyzing the relation between calibration error and intensity instability. The work is very important for solar telescopes with high polarization precision up to 10~（-4） I_c.
Bibliography:Polarization calibration unit（PCU） has become an indispensable element for solar telescopes to remove the instrumental polarization; the polarimetric accuracy of calibration depends strongly on the properties of PCU. In the paper, we analyze the measurement errors induced by PCU based on polarized light theory and find that the imperfections of the waveplate generate the main calibration errors. An optimized calibration method is proposed to avoid the effects from waveplate imperfections, and a numerical simulation is given to evaluate the polarization accuracy by analyzing the relation between calibration error and intensity instability. The work is very important for solar telescopes with high polarization precision up to 10~（-4） I_c.
solar telescope, polarization calibration
11-5639/O4
Jun-Feng Hou, Dong-Guang Wang, Yuan-Yong Deng, Ying-Zi Sun, and Zhi-Yong Zhang（ Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China）
ISSN:1674-1056
2058-3834
DOI:10.1088/1674-1056/26/8/089501