Focusing coherent light through opaque strongly scattering media

We report focusing of coherent light through opaque scattering materials by control of the incident wavefront. The multiply scattered light forms a focus with a brightness that is up to a factor of 1000 higher than the brightness of the normal diffuse transmission.     

Generalized diffusion solution for light scattering from anisotropic sources

The traditional diffusion theory, often used for isotropic sources, becomes inaccurate at short source-detector spacings and cannot be applied to media with large absorption or with small scattering strengths. We show that for any type of source anisotropy, a Green's-function-based procedure can remove these limitations. The accuracy of the new approach is examined through a comparison with the numerical solution to the radiative transfer equation.     

Temperature field in inhomogeneous strongly anisotropic medium with sources

Using an “on-average exact” asymptotic method in a first approximation we constructed an analytical solution to the problem on the temperature field of heat sources in an anisotropic layer and ambient medium with dominant vertical thermal conduction. Results on temperature calculations in application to oil-gas formations are presented. It is shown that in the Laplace-Carson space, the zero and first expansion coefficients of the exact solution in terms of the asymptotic parameter coincide with those constructed on the base of the proposed method.     

Spectral changes of light produced by scattering from disordered anisotropic media

We investigate theoretically changes in the spectrum of polychromatic light scattered by a disordered, birefringent medium. We derive an expression for the spectrum of scattered light for ordinary and extraordinary incident waves within the accuracy of the first Born approximation. Using this result, we analyze the changes in the spectrum of light due to the combined action of disorder and anisotropy in the scattering process.     

Random walk of polarized light in turbid media

We study the propagation of polarized light in turbid media as a random walk of vector photons. Both propagation and polarization directions of light are found to isotropize, following a power law of the number of scattering events. The characteristic length scale governing light isotropization and linear depolarization, the isotropization length , is derived using the exact Mie scattering for spherical particles. A simple relation is obtained for Rayleigh-Gans scatterers where is the transport mean free path and is the mean cosine of scattering angles.     

Transmission of polarized light through turbid media

The depolarization of light in multiple-scattering media with large (larger than the light wavelength) inhomogeneities is considered. The polarization state of the scattered light is described in the principal-mode approximation. Using the Fokker-Planck model, the polarization and intensity distribution of light are calculated in the vicinity of an inhomogeneity in the shape of an absorbing half-plane. The results of the calculations agree with the experimental data on transmission of light through turbid media.     

Sonoluminescent tomography of strongly scattering media

A novel optical imaging technique called sonoluminescent tomography was developed for cross-sectional imaging of strongly scattering media noninvasively. Sonoluminescence, which was generated internally in the medium by cw ultrasound, was used to produce a two-dimensional image of an object embedded in a scattering medium by means of raster scanning the medium. The image had a high contrast and good spatial resolution. The spatial resolution was limited by the focal-spot size of the ultrasound, and one could improve the resolution by tightening the focus. This inexpensive imaging technique has potential applications in medicine and other fields related to scattering media.     

Imaging through turbid media by polarized light

A theoretical approach to the calculation of the image of an inhomogeneity in transillumination of tissue-like media using polarized radiation is developed in the approximation of the basic polarization modes. The method is based on the solution of the nonstationary transfer equation in the Fokker-Planck approximation. An expression for the edge spread function of the image of a totally absorbing half-plane is derived. A generalization to the image profile of inhomogeneity that represents a finite-width stripe is presented. The spatial resolution (sharpness) and contrast of image are analyzed at various time intervals of detection. The image parameters are compared for the polarization-difference technique and imaging in unpolarized light. It is demonstrated that the imaging using the difference of linear polarizations is similar to the imaging using the pulsed unpolarized radiation with a detection interval of about z/2c (z is the thickness of the sample and c is the velocity of light). The results are in agreement with the experimental data on the differential polarization transillumination of tissue-like media.     

Multiple scattering of polarized light in a turbid medium

It is shown that multiple scattering of polarized light in a turbid medium can be represented as independent propagation of three basic modes: intensity and linearly and circularly polarized modes. Weak interaction between the basic modes can be described by perturbation theory and gives rise to “overtones” (additional polarization modes). Transport equations for the basic and additional modes are derived from a vector radiative transfer equation. Analytical solutions to these equations are found in the practically important cases of diffusive light propagation and small-angle multiple scattering. The results obtained are in good agreement with experimental and numerical results and provide an explanation for the experimentally observed difference in depolarization between linearly and circularly polarized waves.     

Elliptic incoherent solitons in strongly nonlocal media with anisotropic Kerr nonlinearity

The propagation of elliptic incoherent beam in strongly nonlocal media with noninstantaneous anisotropic Kerr nonlinearity is systematically investigated. Using the mutual coherence function approach, we obtain the existence curve of such solitons and an interesting outcome: correlation characteristics of the elliptic incoherent solitons can be anisotropic as well as isotropic. When the existence conditions of solitons are not satisfied, the elliptic incoherent beam will undergo periodic oscillation. Nonstationary evolution behaviors of the elliptic beam are shown in detail by numerical calculation. It is also obtained that the oscillation periods of the beam in x and y direction are different and the elliptic beam will become circular at some propagation distance under special conditions.     

Determination of optical properties of slices of turbid media by diffuse CW laser light scattering profilometry

In this work we present a method for determining the optical parameters of turbid media, namely its absorption coefficient (μ_a) and its reduced scattering coefficient . It is based on the measurement of CW transmittance profiles and analysis of the experimental data by a theoretical model based on the diffusion approximation (DA) of the radiative transfer equation (RTE). The method developed has been investigated with solid polymer probes but it could be applied for liquid materials as well. Experimental results are presented and compared to those of other authors together with a discussion about the accuracy of measurements. In addition, measurements using integrating spheres as well as Monte Carlo simulations are also presented to validate these results.     

Frequency bandwidth of light focused through turbid media

We study the effect of frequency detuning on light focused through turbid media. By shaping the wavefront of the incident beam light is focused through an opaque scattering layer. When detuning the laser we observe a gradual decrease of the focus intensity, while the position, size,and shape of the focus remain the same within experimental accuracy. The frequency dependence of the focus intensity follows a measured speckle correlation function. We support our experimental findings with calculations based on transport theory. Our results imply wavefront shaping methods can be generalized to allow focusing of optical pulses in turbid media.