Device for revealing spatial variations in the polarisation of electromagnetic radiation

A device suitable for revealing spatial variations in polarization of electromagnetic radiation, in a form of localized temperature variations,

• the device comprising a surface of a carrier which is thermally and electrically insulating, and comprising in or on the surface of the carrier, an array of patterns which each consist of at least one rectilinear segment of a material referred to as sensitive material,
• the sensitive material being suitable for producing heat when said sensitive material is exposed to an electric field or to a magnetic field of the radiation, with a value of a ratio of heating power to electromagnetic radiation power which varies according to the polarization of said electromagnetic radiation relative to an orientation of each segment in the surface of the carrier,
• said ratio of heating power to electromagnetic radiation power being substantially zero in the carrier outside of the segments of the sensitive material, regardless of the polarization of the radiation,
• wherein, if each pattern comprises several segments, these segments within each pattern have at least two different orientations, or wherein, if each pattern comprises only one segment, the segments of two neighboring patterns have different orientations,
• the array being comprised of repetitions of a basic pattern with offsets in several different directions of repetition in the surface of the carrier, so as to form a two-dimensional array of identical patterns,
• wherein the sensitive material is an electrically conducting material, with an electrical conductivity value of said sensitive material which is between 10 S/m and 500 S/m.