Abstract:
In this article, We demonstrated an image sensor for detecting changes in polarization with high sensitivity. For this purpose, we constructed an optical system with a two-layer structure, comprising an external polarizer and polarizers on a pixel array. An external polarizer is used to enhance the polarization rotation while reducing the intensity to avoid pixel saturation of the image sensor. Using a two-layer structure, the two polarizers can be arranged under optimal conditions and the image sensor can achieve high polarization-change detection performance. We fabricated the polarization image sensor using a 0.35- μm CMOS process and, by averaging 50 ×50 pixels and 96 frames, achieved a polarization rotation detection limit of 5.2 ×10−4∘ at a wavelength of 625 nm. We also demonstrated the applicability of electric-field distribution imaging using an electrooptic crystal (ZnTe) for weak-polarization-change distribution measurements.