Three specific orientations of polarizing components are investigated and corresponding waveforms are illustrated in Table 2. The judgement to differentiate polarizing components under interest is discussed as follows. Output waveforms corresponding to polarizing components oriented at 0o, 45o and 90o relative to a reference direction from pTCi are closely examined. As seen from Table 2, the waveforms due to the introduction of a linear polarizer into the arrangement are obviously distinct from other waveforms produced by other polarizing components. The orientations of the linear polarizer at 0o and 90o result in only a single linear polarized beam left in the setup and the output from the pTCi is simply circular polarized. While the waveform at 45o gives the same state of polarization as the reference but with a smaller amplitude. The matter of distinction becomes less obvious when comparing waveforms from QWP and HWP. Under all chosen orientations, the waveforms due to the introduction of the QWP are exactly the same as the reference. This suggests that the insertion of the QWP oriented at specific directions has no effect on the operation of the pTCi. The phase shift from the QWP merely contributes to the phase modulation normally made by the PZT in the setup. The same explanation can also be applied to the two orientations, i.e. 0o and 90o, of the HWP. The waveform from the HWP at 45o becomes an important indicator which can be used to separate the insertion of the HWP from QWP. The output magnitude is roughly nil because the HWP at 45o simply diverts the two linear polarized beams from the output.
In all, the output waveforms from the pTCi have already been proved to be a valuable tool for separating different types of polarizing components under investigation. This method provides a fast and effective means of modifying the output signal from the pTCi.