Mueller Matrix Decomposition for a General Rotating Compensator Ellipsometer
Abstract
This work develops a Mueller matrix decomposition that factors a nondepolarizing Mueller matrix M into three components M = T1 D T2, where the elements D, which correspond to a diagonal Jones matrix, are separated from rotations and circular diattenuation T1, T2. This decomposition is employed to calibrate a prototype reflective rotating-compensator ellipsometer designed to operate using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. This decomposition allows for the measurement of the full Mueller matrix of a sample without full knowledge of the compensators or the source polarization, while allowing for significant diattenuation and retardance for the optics. A generalization of the decomposition is developed for depolarizing Mueller matrices, and the technique is tested on reflection data collected on an Au mirror at $266$ nm.
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BibTeX
@misc{chew2026mueller,
title = {{Mueller Matrix Decomposition for a General Rotating Compensator Ellipsometer}},
author = {Aaron Chew and Purnima P. Balakrishnan and Bryan M. Barnes and John H. Burnett and Colton K. Dudley and Steven E. Grantham and Stephanie L. Moffitt and Charles Tarrio and Thomas A. Germer},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.05545},
eprint = {2611.05545},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05545},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Mueller Matrix Decomposition for a General Rotating Compensator Ellipsometer
AU - Aaron Chew
AU - Purnima P. Balakrishnan
AU - Bryan M. Barnes
AU - John H. Burnett
AU - Colton K. Dudley
AU - Steven E. Grantham
AU - Stephanie L. Moffitt
AU - Charles Tarrio
AU - Thomas A. Germer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.05545
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05545
AB - This work develops a Mueller matrix decomposition that factors a nondepolarizing Mueller matrix M into three components M = T_1 D T_2, where the elements D, which correspond to a diagonal Jones matrix, are separated from rotations and circular diattenuation T_1, T_2. This decomposition is employed to calibrate a prototype reflective rotating-compensator ellipsometer designed to operate using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. This decomposition allows for the measurement of the full Mueller matrix of a sample without full knowledge of the compensators or the source polarization, while allowing for significant diattenuation and retardance for the optics. A generalization of the decomposition is developed for depolarizing Mueller matrices, and the technique is tested on reflection data collected on an Au mirror at $266$ nm.
ER -