Towards rapid, sensitive and portable optical polarimetry

Abstract

This thesis presents the general principles of continuous wave cavity ring-down polarimetry, a cavity ring-down-based polarimetric scheme that employs continuous wave laser sources and benefits from the use of large intracavity polarization anisotropies for highly sensitive polarimetric measurements. Furthermore, this thesis also considers different computational algorithms based on the time- and frequency-domain for the rapid estimation of signal parameters from damped sinusoidal signals, as encountered in continuous-wave cavity ring-down polarimetry experiments. Finally this thesis presents the design and implementation of a plant-growing facility from which plant emissions can be detected.