Measuring apparatus, measuring method, and characteristic measurement unit

Abstract

A measuring apparatus includes a light intensity information acquisition sectionthat acquires light intensity information relating to a measurement light containing a given band component, the measurement light having been modulated by optical elements included in an optical systemand a measurement target (or a sample), and a calculation sectionthat calculates at least one matrix element of a Mueller matrix that indicates the optical characteristics of the measurement target based on the light intensity information relating to the measurement light and a theoretical expression for the light intensity of the measurement light. The light intensity information acquisition sectionacquires the light intensity information relating to a plurality of the measurement lights obtained from the optical systemby changing setting of a principal axis direction of at least one of the optical elements. The calculation sectionperforms a carrier amplitude coefficient calculation process, and a matrix element calculation process that calculates the at least one matrix element based on a carrier amplitude coefficient and the theoretical expression for the carrier amplitude coefficient including the at least one matrix element.