Fig. 1.

(a) Assignment of polarization states in the (h, v) basis Cartesian complex plane (L = 0°: Linearly horizontal, L = 45°: Linearly 45°, L = –45°: Linearly –45°, R.C.: right circular, L.C.: left circular polarization states) (b) Loci of polarization states of constant relative magnitude (| C_vh |=| E_v | / | E_h |) and phase $(\angle {\mathit{C}}_{vh}={\theta }_v-{\theta }_h)$. (c) Relationship between (h, v) basis complex plane and Poincaré sphere. The Poincaré sphere of unit diameter is transformed to the complex plane by stereographic projection.