Temporally multiplexed LADAR polarimeter

A polarimeter comprising:

• a polarization modulator configured to change a polarization phase of a single optical pulse to provide a single modulated optical pulse that varies in both linear polarization and circular polarization;
• a polarization state analyzer comprising:
• a plurality of static polarization component analyzers configured to receive the single modulated optical pulse after interaction with a target medium and provide a plurality of polarization component optical pulses of the single modulated optical pulse;
• a time-division optical multiplexer configured to combine the plurality of polarization component optical pulses to a single time-multiplexed signal comprising a plurality of optical pulses that are separated in time;
• an optical detector configured to sense the time-multiplexed signal;
• an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the sensed time-multiplexed signal to a digital signal;
• and
• a signal processing module configured to determine a polarization property of the target medium dependent upon the digital signal and upon the polarization phase of the modulated optical pulse, wherein the polarization property of the target medium comprises a portion of a full sixteen-element Mueller matrix that is sufficient to account for coupling between polarization states.

A method for sensing polarization properties of a target medium, comprising:

• receiving a single optical pulse that is outgoing from the target medium, the received single optical pulse resulting from interaction of a single transmitted optical pulse which varies in both linear polarization and circular polarization, with the target medium;
• passing the received single optical pulse through a plurality of static polarizers to provide a plurality of polarization components;
• sensing intensities of the plurality of polarization components over a duration of the received optical pulse;
• and
• determining the polarization properties of the target medium dependent upon time variations of the sensed intensities of the plurality of polarization components over the duration of the received optical pulse,
• wherein a polarization phase of the single transmitted optical pulse is modulated in accordance with a modulation function that varies in time over the duration of the transmitted optical pulse,
• wherein determining the polarization properties of the target medium is further dependent upon the polarization phase of the single transmitted optical pulse, and
• wherein the polarization property of the target medium comprises a portion of a full sixteen-element Mueller matrix that is sufficient to account for coupling between polarization states.