Optical coherent backscattering by random media : an experimental study

P.E. Wolf , G. Maret , E. Akkermans , R. Maynard

A detailed experimental study of coherent backscattering of light from aqueous suspensions of polystyrene microspheres is presented. Emphasis is on the effects of particle size, of absorption due to added dye and of light polarization on the shape and height of the backscattering cone. For parallel polarization of incident and scattered beams, the scalar diffusion theory, parametrized by the transport mean free path l*, agrees well with our data up to surprizingly large scattering angles (ql * ~ 1) and quantitatively accounts for the rounding of the cones due to absorption. No deviations from the usual Gaussian statistics of scattered fields is observed up to λ/l* ∼ 0.1.

Mots clés: light coherence; light polarisation; light scattering; suspensions

Domaines: Articles anciens

P.E. Wolf, G. Maret, E. Akkermans, R. Maynard. Optical coherent backscattering by random media : an experimental study. Journal de Physique, 1988, 49 (1), pp.63-75. ⟨10.1051/jphys:0198800490106300⟩. ⟨jpa-00210675⟩