Design and measurement of the Stokes polarimeter for the COSMO K-coronagraph
Hou, J., DeWijn, A., & Tomczyk, S. (2013). Design and measurement of the Stokes polarimeter for the COSMO K-coronagraph. The Astrophysical Journal, 774, 8 pp. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/774/1/85
We present the Stokes polarimeter for the new Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory K-coronagraph. The polarimeter can be used in two modes. In observation mode, it is sensitive to linear polarization only and operates as a "Stokes definition" polarimeter. In the ideal case, such a modulator isolat... Show moreWe present the Stokes polarimeter for the new Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory K-coronagraph. The polarimeter can be used in two modes. In observation mode, it is sensitive to linear polarization only and operates as a "Stokes definition" polarimeter. In the ideal case, such a modulator isolates a particular Stokes parameter in each modulation state. For calibrations, the polarimeter can diagnose the full Stokes vector. We present here the design process of the polarimeter, analyze its tolerances with a Monte Carlo method, develop a way to align the individual elements, and measure and evaluate its performance in both modes. Show less