Thermopile detector of light ellipticity

Abstract Polarimetric imaging is widely used in applications from material analysis to biomedical diagnostics, vision and astronomy. The degree of circular polarization, or light ellipticity, is associated with the S 3 Stokes parameter which is defined as the difference in the intensities of the left- and right-circularly polarized components of light. Traditional way of determining this parameter relies on using several external optical elements, such as polarizers and wave plates, along with conventional photodetectors, and performing at least two measurements to distinguish left- and right-circularly polarized light components. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a thermopile photodetector element that provides bipolar voltage output directly proportional to the S 3 Stokes parameter of the incident light.