The x - and o -modes are produced at different rates depending on the emission mechanism and plasma parameters, which leads to a net circular polarization signal. For example, thermal bremsstrahlung slightly favors the x -mode, while plasma emission heavily favors the o -mode. This makes circular polarization an extremely important property for studies of solar radio emission, as it can be used to help understand how the radiation was produced. While circular polarization is most prevalent in solar radio observations, it is also possible to produce linear polarizations in certain circumstances. However, the presence of intense magnetic fields leads to Faraday rotation that distorts linearly-polarized signals, making them extremely difficult or impossible to detect. However, it is possible to detect linearly-polarized background astrophysical sources that are occulted by the corona, in which case the impact of Faraday rotation can be used to measure the coronal magnetic field strength.