Abstract
The action of a polarizer is conventionally determined only for a normally incident plane wave. In this work polarization characteristics of polarizers are evaluated for a general incident wave front using the plane-wave spectral representation. It is shown that even an ideal polarizer will transmit part of a cross-polarized wave if it does not coincide with the wave front. Some interesting polarization effects are demonstrated by application of the theoretical analysis to polarized spherical waves.
© 1984 Optical Society of America
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