01 / Phase retarder demos
Waveplate
From linear to elliptical polarization, one phase shift at a time.
Explore the scene. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, and right-drag to pan. Red is the electric field; violet marks the optical axis; blue marks the retarder axis. Coordinate axes: X red, Y green, Z blue.
Try it. With input polarization at 0° and the waveplate at 45°, order 4 gives a quarter-wave retardance and circular output. Order 2 gives half-wave retardance and linear output. Zero input angle is vertical.