Focusing the partly polarized light

The paper presents the mathematical technique for calculation of three dimensional intensity distribution near a focal point of an optical system in case of partly polarized light. The proposed technique considers a high aperture optical system that focuses a partly polarized parallel beam. The principal idea is based on Huygens-Fresnel principle: a spherical wave at an exit pupil of an optical system is considered as a numerous set of secondary light point sources. Each source emits a partly polarized spherical wave. The polarization orientation of each wave can be calculated using angular pupil coordinates. Modulation of amplitude, phase or polarization can be introduced depending on these pupil coordinates. The total intensity is defined as superposition of complex wave amplitudes taking into account polarization orientation, degree of polarization and orientation of detector aperture. The paper presents the intensity distributions calculated for beams with various types and degrees of polarization.