Polarization Aberration Diagrams

Polarization aberrations are variations of the polarization associated with different ray paths through an optical system. This paper presents particular polarization aberration expansion that is second order in the object and pupil coordinates and describes polarization effects that are functionally equivalent to the wavefront aberration terms: piston, tilt, and defocus. This polarization aberration expansion is applicable to weakly polarizing systems, such as radially symmetric systems of lenses and coatings, as well as to strongly polarizing systems incorporating polarizers and retarders. A computer simulation of this expansion has been performed, and graphical results are presented displaying the effect of 24 of these polarization aberrations acting on linearly and circularly polarized light.