Mueller Matrices for Nanorods

 In my last video, I mentioned that I needed to collect more "background" samples with the dark field condenser so I could get a good idea of what my error was. I made more measurements, and and my results look something like this! 

Each square represents a number describing how the polarization of light will change by going through that sample. Linear algebra is super powerful in optics, and it has been cool to see it put in practice. 

Measuring the Mueller Matrix takes much longer than working with the polarograms I made before. I have to take time to add in quarter wave plates and adjust the polarizer, since it isn't automated in our system. And, since I'm human and can't adjust it as carefully as a computer would, that means I can introduce error into our measurements as well. The polarograms take many measurements as well, but since they are automated, they are more reproducible. 

Mueller matrices are much more descriptive than the polargrams I measured earlier. But they take a lot longer to measure - I need to change the polarization of the light four times and take many measurements over a whole range of angles. Once we got a new camera, things went a lot faster. It was good practice to work with both old cameras and new scientific cameras.