Parallelization of polarization state generation and detection for fast Mueller matrix polarimetry

Vector beams exhibit spatially inhomogeneous polarization. Here we show that this diversity of polarization in conjunction with specially designed optical setups can be used to parallelize the respective polarization state generation and detection processes in Mueller matrix polarimetry, which hitherto are done sequentially, limiting the speed with which samples can be characterized. Polarimetry based on these principles, that can extract twelve Mueller matrix elements from a single intensity image, is presented. Simulation results show that this form of polarimetry can be used to study a wide variety of samples such as magnetically active metamaterials.