pax1000-controller 0.0.2

A library to controlle the Thorlabs PAX1000 polarimeter

PAX1000-controller

Python wrapper for the Thorlabs PAX1000 polarimeter using ctypes and the official Thorlabs TLPAX DLL. It provides a minimal, direct interface for device initialization, configuration, and polarization measurements.

The creator of this package/repository is not affiliated with ThorLabs.

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Features

• Automatic detection of connected PAX1000 devices
• Configuration of wavelength, scan rate, and measurement mode
• Single-shot polarization measurements
• Access to:
  • Azimuth
  • Ellipticity
  • Full Stokes parameters (S0–S3)
  • Degree of polarization (DoP)
  • Degree of linear polarization (DoLP)
  • Degree of circular polarization (DoCP)

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Requirements

• Windows (64-bit)
• Python 3
• Thorlabs PAX1000 polarimeter
• Thorlabs VISA installation
• Thorlabs TLPAX DLL

Default DLL path used in the code:

C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\Win64\Bin\TLPAX_64.dll

Python standard libraries used:

• ctypes
• time
• math
• copy

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Installation

pip install pax1000_controller

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Usage

Basic Example

from pax1000_controller import PAX1000

pax = PAX1000(wavelength=491e-9,
              base_scan_rate=60,
              measurement_mode=9,
              dll_lib_path="C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\Win64\Bin\TLPAX_64.dll")

data = pax.measure()
print(data)

pax.close()

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Class: PAX1000

Constructor

PAX1000(wavelength=491e-9, scan_rate=60, measurement_mode=9, dll_lib_path="C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\Win64\Bin\TLPAX_64.dll")

Parameters:

• wavelength (float): Measurement wavelength in meters
• scan_rate (float): Scan rate in Hz
• measurement_mode (int): PAX1000 measurement mode
• dll_lib_path (str): Path to the TLPAX_64.dll

The constructor:

• Searches for connected PAX1000 devices
• Connects to the first available device
• Applies the provided configuration

Measurement modes:

• 0 – IDLE, no acquisition
• 1 – H512, half rotation, 512-point FFT
• 2 – H1024, half rotation, 1024-point FFT
• 3 – H2048, half rotation, 2048-point FFT
• 4 – F512, full rotation, 512-point FFT
• 5 – F1024, full rotation, 1024-point FFT
• 6 – F2048, full rotation, 2048-point FFT
• 7 – D512, double rotation, 512-point FFT
• 8 – D1024, double rotation, 1024-point FFT
• 9 – D2048, double rotation, 2048-point FFT

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measure()

Performs a single polarization measurement.

Returns:

{
    "azimuth": float,        # degrees
    "ellipticity": float,    # degrees
    "S0": float,
    "S1": float,
    "S2": float,
    "S3": float,
    "dop": float,            # degree of polarization
    "dolp": float,           # degree of linear polarization
    "docp": float            # degree of circular polarization
}

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close()

Closes the connection to the device and releases all resources.

pax.close()

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Exceptions

• DeviceNotFound
  Raised if no PAX1000 device is detected.

• InitialisationError
  Raised if device initialization fails.

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Notes

• Only the first detected PAX1000 device is used.
• Returned values are deep-copied to avoid side effects from reused ctypes objects.
• Based on the official Thorlabs ctypes example, adapted for Python 3.