Permitted experimental errors for optimized variable-retarder Mueller-matrix polarimeters

An optimized Mueller-matrix polarimeter is simulated. The polarimeter is optimized by finding the configurations of the polarization state generator and polarization state analyzer that give the minimum condition number. Noise is included in the measurement of the polarimeter intensities, and the eigenvalue calibration procedure is used to reduce the errors in the final Mueller matrix. Controlled errors are introduced to the polarimeter configuration, and the error in the final measured Mueller matrix is calculated as a function of these configuration errors. It is found that the alignment of the retarder axes in the polarimeter is much more important than the use of the ideal, optimized retardance values. In particular, the misalignment of the retarders farthest from the sample is the error source with the highest impact in the precision of the polarimeter.