Artifacts in polarimeters are apparent polarization features which are not real but result from the systematic errors in the polarimeter. The polarization artifacts are different between division of focal plane, spectral, and time modulation polarimeters. Artifacts result from many sources such as source properties, micropolarizer arrays, coatings issues, vibrations, and stress birefringence. A modeling examples of polarization artifacts due to a micro-polarizer array polarimeter is presented.
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