A Polarization Contrast Retina Using Patterned Iodine-doped PVA Film

Many insect species and some animals can sense light polarization in their environment, but humans are blind to this property of light. In this paper, we present a one-dimensional polarization imager as an example of a polarization retina, and we describe recent advances in developing a high resolution, integrated, two dimensional polarization retina. We discuss how iodine-doped poly(vinyl alcohol) linear polarizers can be processed using standard microfabrication lithographic techniques to delineate features with resolution comparable to pixel sizes of standard imagers.