Birefringence of cellotape: Jones representation and experimental analysis

Abstract

In this paper we analyze a simple experiment to study the effects of polarized light. A simple optical system composed of a polarizer, a retarder (cellotape) and an analyzer is used to study the effect on the polarization state of the light which impinges on the setup. The optical system is characterized by means of a Jones matrix, and a simple procedure based on Jones vectors is used to obtain an expression for the intensity after the light passes through the optical system. The light intensity is measured by a photodetector and the expression obtained theoretically is experimentally validated. By fitting the experimental intensity data the value of the retardation introduced by the retarder can also be obtained.