Transformation of polarization state of the light using wave plates with arbitrary phase difference: half wave plates

The practical problem of the lack of a quarter-wave plate for an arbitrary wavelength has been solved in our earlier work. The possibility of substituting this plate with a combination of two (or more) retardation plates with phase shift different from 90degrees has been shown. However, there are some special cases in which another wave plate commonly used in polarization optics is needed, i.e., a half-wave plate. In the present paper some formulae have been derived for several of the most important applications of these retardation plates in measuring setup.