Mueller Matrix Imaging in Crystallography: The Chiroptics of Pattern Formation

The interactions of light and anisotropic matter are described with a specific focus on multilayered structures and bianisotropic (meso-chiral) materials. These interactions can be described by the 4x4 Mueller matrix that captures all of the linear optical properties of a sample, LB, CB, LD, CD, and depolarization due to scattering from a single set of measurements. Imaging polarimetry is particularly informative for heterogeneous substances. Among the systems analyzed are the following: mixed crystals of sodium chlorate and bromate, rhythmic precipitation of phthalic acid, simple spherulites of sorbitol, helical crystals of hippuric acid, and laminar high polymers. Our analyses inform the structure of complex polycrystalline materials such as the patterned growth of polycrystalline ensembles, and analyze the chiroptics induced by highly linearly anisotropic materials