Fermionic out-of-plane structure of polarization singularities

A new classification of circular polarization C points in three-dimensional polarization ellipse fields is proposed. The classification type depends on the out-of-plane variation of the polarization ellipse axis, in particular, whether the ellipse axes are in the plane of circular polarization one or three times. A minimal set of parameters for this classification is derived and discussed in the context of the familiar in-plane C point classification into lemon, star, and monstar types. This new geometric classification is related to the Mobius index of polarization singularities recently introduced by Freund. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America