We propose a method based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer to analyze the superposition of polarized laser beams at a given angle. The focus of our study is the spatially varying polarization state of the resulting field, also known as a polarization grating, generated by this setup. Our proposal combines a description of the resulting field in terms of its Stokes parameters with an experimental demonstration of the existence of such a polarization grating due to the effects of polarization on beam interference experiments.
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2009
American Association of Physics Teachers
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