Polarization characteristics of southern pulsars - II. 640-MHz observations

Observations of integrated pulse profiles and polarization characteristics at frequencies near 640 MHz are presented for 43 pulsars. Significant polarization is observed for most objects; the mean linear polarization for the whole sample is 20 per cent and the mean circular polarization is 13 per cent. For many pulsars the position angle varies at an approximately uniform rate across the profile, the total change being ≲ 180°. In several cases, however, discontinuities in position angle are observed, and most of these discontinuous changes are of ∼ 90°. Circular polarization is generally of one sign across the integrated profile, but in two pulsars sign changes are observed near the center of the profile.