Mueller matrix polarimetry with 3D integral imaging

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce the Mueller matrix imaging concepts for 3D Integral Imaging Polarimetry. The Mueller matrix of a complex scene is measured and estimated with 3D integral imaging. This information can be used to analyze the complex polarimetric behavior of any 3D scene. In particular, we show that the degree of polarization can be estimated at any selected plane for any arbitrary synthetic illumination source which may be difficult to produce in practice. This tool might open new perspectives for polarimetric analysis in the 3D domain. Also, we illustrate that 2D polarimetric images are noisier than 3D reconstructed polarimetric integral imaging. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on Mueller matrix polarimetry in 3D Integral Imaging.