I'm a bit embarrassed to ask this question as elliptical polarization
was part of my disst. But it was ~ 35 years ago.
How can one obtain circularly polarized light from a birefringent xtal
that is also rather (T ratio > 2) dichroic (WRT polarization plane) from
plane polarized light. I didn't find the answer from a perusal of Hecht.
The best I've obtained w/ my xtal so far is e * ~ 0.6 (X band
radiation) could it be just a rather "poor" (non uniform **) xtal
* e = sqrt[1 - b^2/a^2]
Peripheral question. Am I correct in thinking a dichroic (WRT to
polarization) xtal is always birefringent?