Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry technique for circular dichroism/birefringence sensing with scattering effects

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-enhanced method is proposed for measuring the circular dichroism (CD), circular birefringence (CB), and degree of polarization (DOP) of turbid media using a Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry technique. The validity of the analytical model is confirmed by means of numerical simulations. The simulation results show that the proposed detection method enables the CD and CB properties to be measured with a resolution of 10-4 refractive index unit (RIU) and 10-5 RIU, respectively, for refractive indices in the range of 1.3 to 1.4. The practical feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by detecting the CB/CD/DOP properties of glucose-chlorophyllin compound samples containing polystyrene microspheres. It is shown that the extracted CB value decreases linearly with the glucose concentration, while the extracted CD value increases linearly with the chlorophyllin concentration. However, the DOP is insensitive to both the glucose concentration and the chlorophyllin concentration. Consequently, the potential of the proposed SPR-enhanced Stokes-Mueller matrix polarimetry method for high-resolution CB/CD/DOP detection is confirmed. Notably, in contrast to conventional SPR techniques designed to detect relative refractive index changes, the SPR technique proposed in the present study allows absolute measurements of the optical properties (CB/CD/DOP) to be obtained. © 2017 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).