A polarimeter has been constructed by IRAM for measurements of circular polarization. It has been tested on the telescope in February 1994. The results of the test are available in the March 1994 issue of this Newsletter. The main technical features of the polarimeter are briefly described below.
The polarimeter consists of a dielectric quarter-wave plate working in
transmission. It is rotated between two positions at 
by a
motor, the switching time is 
, and the phase time is
adjustable. From the point of view of data acquisition, it functions
like other switching devices, i.e. the chopper or the wobbler, and the
difference between the RCP and LCP intensities is acquired.
The present quarter-wave plate has been designed for 113.3 GHz. Its
transmission loss is 
%, and its cross-polarization below
20 dB. Similar plates could be fabricated for other frequencies if
needed. Proposals for projects requiring the polarimeter can be
submitted. They should state clearly the degree of performance that
they demand from the technical side. Besides the scientific
evaluation, the acceptance and scheduling of such proposals will
depend on their feasibility as judged from their requirements.