Multifunctional geometric phase optical element for high-efficiency full Stokes imaging polarimetry

Polarization imaging finds applications in many areas, such as photoelasticity, ellipsometry, and biomedical imaging. A compact, snapshot, and high-efficiency imaging polarimeter is highly desirable for many applications. Here, based on a single multifunctional geometric phase optical element (GPOE), a new method is proposed for high-efficiency snapshot imaging polarimetry. With tailored spatially varying orientation of each anisotropic unit cell, the GPOE works highly efficiently as both a spin sorter and a half-wave plate, enabling snapshot retrieving of a full Stokes vector of incident light. The designed GPOE is implemented in the form of liquid crystal fabricated with a photo-alignment technology, and its application in imaging polarimetry is experimentally demonstrated by retrieving full Stokes parameters of a cylinder vector beam. This method can also work in the form of plasmonic or dielectric metasurfaces, enabling ultra-compact polarization detection systems by monolithic integration with other devices such as metalenses.