LAUSR

The division of focal plane polarimeter (DoFP) is a widely utilized instrument for target detection and recognition, owing to its excellent real-time performance and compact configuration. However, due to manufacturing and integration errors, its performance when measuring the state of polarization is limited. Therefore, it is essential to understand the relationship between these error sources and their response to design, manufacture, and apply the polarimeter effectively, as this determines the degree to which errors should be controlled under different performance requirements. The present paper proposes an analysis method to quantitatively assess parameter requirements when a DoFP is subject to different levels of accuracy. The corresponding theoretical model is also derived in order to establish the relationship between the DoFP’s performance and its various error sources. This model is employed to conduct sensitivity and Monte-Carlo analyses at varying degrees of polarization accuracy (10−3, 10−2 and 10−1). The requirements of the error sources are analyzed, incorporating maximum and minimum transmission and polarization direction for each polarized pixel. The results of this study provide a method of evaluating performance and establish the necessary parameter requirements for a given level of polarization accuracy in a DoFP. This is the first occasion on which a quantitative assessment study of the calibration error response of DoFP polarimeters has been conducted, and the related results provide valuable references for the development, calibration, and application of polarization detection and imaging.