Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry system for glucose sensing

• Published in: Optics and lasers in engineering Vol. 92; pp. 120 - 128
• Main Authors: Phan, Quoc-Hung, Lo, Yu-Lung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2017
• Subjects: Ellipsometry; Glucose sensing; Optical rotation angle; Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry; Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry; Glucose sensing; Optical rotation angle; Ellipsometry
• ISSN: 0143-8166; 1873-0302
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optlaseng.2016.08.017

A Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry system consisting of a polarization scanning generator (PSG) and a high-accuracy Stokes polarimeter is used to sense the glucose concentration in aqueous solutions with and without scattering effects, respectively. In the proposed system, an electro-optic (EO) modulator driven by a saw-tooth waveform voltage is used to perform full state of polarization (linear/circular) scanning, while a self-built Stokes polarimeter is used to obtain dynamic measurements of the output polarized light intensity. It is shown that the measured output Stokes vectors have an accuracy of 10−4, i.e., one order higher than that of existing commercial Stokes polarimeters. The experimental results show that the optical rotation angle varies linearly with the glucose concentration over the range of 0-0.5g/dl. Moreover, glucose sensing is successfully achieved at concentrations as low as 0.02g/dl with a resolution of 10−6deg/mm and an average deviation of 10−4deg. In general, the polarimetry system proposed in this study provides a fast and reliable method for measuring the Stokes vectors, and thus has significant potential for biological sensing applications. ●Glucose monitoring has attracted many attentions by its significant application in diabetes tests and diagnosis. Many optical-based sensors have been reported for the measurement of glucose concentration.●However, the recent studies could not detect glucose with low concentration less than 0.05g/dl. Furthermore, the effect of scattering to glucose detection has not been demonstrated yet in such a low concentration.●In order to fill this gap, a full Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry system was developed with the accuracy of the Stokes vector measurement of 10e-4.●The accuracy of the proposed system is one order higher than the latest commercial Stokes polarimeter developed by Thorlab Co. (PAX5710).●The feasibility of the proposed system is demonstrated by measuring the glucose low concentration of aqueous samples (0.02g/dl) with/without scattering effects, respectively.