Radiative properties of scattering and absorbing dense media: theory and experimental study

We investigate the validity of the radiative transfer equation to model transmission of light through an absorbing and scattering medium. Assuming that radiative transfer equation is valid, the inverse scattering problem for non-polarized radiative transfer in one-dimensional absorbing and scattering media is solved using a parameter identification method. We discuss how to identify the albedo, phase function and extinction coefficient of the medium. We present experimental data that confirm that this approach is robust and can be used to make reliable predictions of the behavior of scattering absorbing systems.     

An “exact” geometric-optics approach for computing the optical properties of large absorbing particles

Based on the principles of geometric optics, the ray-tracing technique has been extensively used to compute the single-scattering properties of particles whose sizes are much larger than the wavelength of the incident wave. However, the inhomogeneity characteristics of internal waves within an absorbing particle, which stem from a complex index of refraction, have not been fully taken into consideration in the geometric ray-tracing approaches reported in the literature for computing the scattering properties of absorbing particles. In this paper, we first demonstrate that electromagnetic fields associated with an absorbing particle can be decomposed into the TE and TM modes. Subsequently, on the basis of Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic boundary conditions for the TE-mode electric field and the TM-mode magnetic field, we derive generalized Fresnel reflection and refraction coefficients, which differ from conventional formulae and do not involve complex angles. Additionally, a recurrence formulism is developed for the computation of the scattering phase matrix of an absorbing particle within the framework of the conventional geometric ray-tracing method. We further present pertinent numerical examples for the phase function and the degree of linear polarization in conjunction with light scattering by individual absorbing spheres, and discuss the deviation of the geometric optics solutions from the exact Lorenz-Mie results with respect to size parameter and complex refractive index.     

Radiation transfer in absorbing-scattering liquids—II. Comparisons of measurements with predictions

Comparisons have been made between measured and predicted results for the radiation field in both highly absorbing and scattering aqueous suspensions with a highly reflecting or absorbing bottom. Predictions were based on a discrete ordinate solution to the equation of transfer, with the requisite properties (extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient and scattering phase function) obtained from measurements performed on samples extracted from the suspensions. All trends in the data were predicted by the model, although poor numerical agreement was obtained for suspensions of large albedo and extinction coefficient. The disagreement is attributed to the effect of multiple scattering on the property measurements.     

Effect of focal pumping conditions on the phase-conjugation characteristics of STS and SBS

The phase-conjugation characteristics of stimulated thermal scattering (STS) in absorbing liquid and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) separately excited in pure acetone were compared, and the effect of focal pumping conditions on them was studied. It is shown that high-quality phase conjugation can be obtained by STS in absorbing liquid under stronger pumping conditions.     

吸收性海水中气泡光散射特性的理论研究

 给出了一种适合于吸收性介质内粒子散射的Mie级数新的表示形式。利用Mie理论研究了吸收性海水中气泡的单散射特性和气泡群的相位函数。与非吸收性海水中气泡的光散射特性相比,分析了海水折射率虚部对气泡光散射的影响。结果表明：180°后向散射的增强是气泡固有的光学性质,与所处介质无关,可以利用后向散射的增强来探测气泡。     

Mie scattering efficiency of a large spherical particle embedded in an absorbing medium

The Mie scattering calculations are usually performed for non-absorbing spherical particles embedded in a non-absorbing medium. We consider a case of an absorbing sphere placed in an absorbing medium. We find, by numerical calculation for large size parameter of the order of 10⁴, that the scattering efficiency of a spherical particle in an absorbing medium approaches the reflectance of a plane surface at perpendicular incidence.     

A note on the definition of scattering cross sections and phase functions for spheres immersed in an absorbing medium

A definition of the scattering cross section of a sphere immersed in an absorbing medium is considered. The quantity, and the relevant phase function, can be used in Monte Carlo calculations regarding multiple scattering.     

Study of the sensitivity of size-averaged scattering matrix elements of nonspherical particles to changes in shape, porosity and refractive index

Studies of the physical parameters that influence the single scattering properties of a size distribution of small particles in random orientation are fundamental in understanding the origin of the observed dependence of the scattering matrix elements on the scattering angle. We present results of extensive calculations of the single scattering matrices of small nonspherical particles performed by a computational model based on the Discrete-Dipole Approximation. We have particularly studied the sensitivity of the size-averaged scattering properties at visible wavelengths of nonspherical, randomly oriented absorbing particles considering changes in shape, porosity and refractive index. These studies have importance regarding the inversion of physical properties of small particles as measured in the laboratory and the dust properties in various astrophysical and atmospherical environments. We have found that size distributions of randomly oriented irregular particles of different shape, including large aspect ratio particles, show similar scattering matrix elements as a function of the scattering angle, in contrast with the pattern found for regularly shaped particles of varying axis ratios, for which the scattering matrix elements as a function of the scattering angle show much larger differences among them. Regarding porosity, we have found a very different pattern in the scattering matrix elements for an ensemble of compact and porous particles. In particular, the linear polarization for incident unpolarized light produced by compact and absorbing particles of large size parameter tend to mimic the pattern found for large absorbing spheres. For porous particles, however, the linear polarization for incident unpolarized light tends to decrease as the size of the particle grows, with the maximum being displaced towards smaller and smaller scattering angles.     

Modelling diffraction by facetted particles

A method to approximate azimuthally resolved light scattering patterns and phase functions due to diffraction and external reflection by strongly absorbing facetted particles is demonstrated for a cube and compared with results from an exact method, T-matrix. A phase function averaged over a range of orientations of a strongly absorbing hexagonal column of aspect ratio unity has been calculated and tested against Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA) results for a size parameter of 50.     

A note on the definition of scattering cross sections and phase functions for spheres immersed in an absorbing medium

Abstract

A definition of the scattering cross section of a sphere immersed in an absorbing medium is considered. The quantity, and the relevant phase function, can be used in Monte Carlo calculations regarding multiple scattering.     

Propagation of a light beam in an absorbing medium with large-scale inhomogeneities

A method of solving the radiative transfer equation is proposed; it enables one to take into account the influence of absorption on the angular and spatial distributions of radiation under conditions of sharply anisotropic multiple scattering. For phase functions that decrease with an increase in the scattering angle by the power law, the total flux attenuation and profiles of the angular and spatial distributions in a strongly absorbing medium are studied. The obtained analytical dependences exhibit a good agreement with results of numerical solution of the radiative transfer equation.     

Monte Carlo methods in radiative transfer and electron-beam processing

Monte Carlo methods (MCMs) are the most versatile approaches in solving the integro-differential equations. They are statistical in nature and can be easily adapted for simulation of the propagation of ensembles of quantum particles within absorbing, emitting, and scattering media. In this paper, we use MCM for the solution of the Boltzmann transport equation, which is the governing equation for both radiative transfer and electron-beam processing. We briefly outline the methodology for the solution of MCMs, and discuss the similarities and differences between the two different application areas. The focus of this paper is primarily on the treatment of different scattering phase functions.     

Numerical approach for reflections and transmittance of finite plane-parallel absorbing and scattering medium subjected to normal and diffuse incidence

The discrete ordinate method (DOM) is used to analyze the radiative energy transfer in one-dimensional absorbing, scattering and non-emitting planar slab subjected to normal and diffuse incidence. To improve the ability of DOM to treat complex scattering phase function, a revision of DOM is presented. The reflectance and transmittance of a semitransparent planar slab is calculated by the DOM. The results are compared with the exact values and the solution arrived at other approximate method. It is shown that the DOM has a good accuracy in solving the reflectance and transmittance of a semitransparent planar slab, and can easily treat the complex scattering phase function.     

Optical and optoacoustic measurements of the absorption properties of spherical gold nanoparticles within a highly scattering medium

In the present paper the requirements for optical parameter characterization of absorbing materials located within a highly scattering medium has been addressed. The measurement scheme incorporates the optoacoustic technique where a single acoustic transducer is used to detect ultrasonic transients generated from laser irradiation. The absorbing medium is based on different concentrations of spherical gold nanoparticles (SGNP’s), these are currently being considered as non-toxic targeted optical contrast agents for both medical imaging and cancer therapeutics. In this paper we present results which demonstrate the two main advantages the optoacoustic technique has over other measurement schemes. These are the possibility to obtain information on the position and dimensions of absorbing bodies using a time of flight analysis (TOF) and secondly, the higher sensitivity of the optoacoustics compared to optical transmission techniques. The former advantage is of particular interest for imaging applications and the latter for detection and characterization of absorbing materials surrounded by high levels of high scattering mediums. We present for the first time the characterization of SGNP within a highly scattering medium. To further demonstrate the feasibility of the optoacoustic technique, the scattering coefficient of the surrounding medium has also been characterized.     

弹性波由吸收圆柱的散射

研究了弹性纵波照射粘弹圆柱产生的稳态散射,导出了简洁的散射场解析表达式,数值计算了吸收和非吸收圆柱散射作的散射截面。结果表明,对高速圆柱散射体,散射截面随Ka增加是光滑振荡变化的,吸收圆柱和非吸收圆柱散射截面特征类似。对低速圆柱散射体,振荡变化的散射截面上叠加有一系列狭窄峰,散射圆柱和周围介质的对应速度差别越大,这种狭窄峰也越多,越靠近极值附近,这些狭窄峰越密,圆柱存在吸收衰减时将降低这些狭窄峰。当散射圆柱和周围介质对应的纵波速度和横波速度差别很小时,散射截面为非规则的小幅度的谐振。     

Particle size effect on the opposition spike and negative polarization

We report results of experiments designed to increase our understanding of the influence of particle size on the photometric opposition spike and negative polarization observed in the reflectance and polarization phase curves of particulate surfaces. We concentrate our studies on particle-size separates of alumina (bright powders) and boron carbide (absorbing powders). We use two photopolarimeters that span small (0.2-17°) and large (2-160°) phase-angle ranges. The results suggest that the negative polarization has two dominant mechanisms: (1) the coherent-backscatter enhancement and (2) single-particle scatter, and that the contributions of the mechanisms are a function of particle size. The measured photometric and polarimetric phase functions can be applied to evaluate models used to calculate scattering properties of particulate surfaces.     

Scattering phase functions of horizontally oriented hexagonal ice crystals

Finite-difference time domain (FDTD) solutions are first compared with the corresponding T-matrix results for light scattering by circular cylinders with specific orientations. The FDTD method is then utilized to study the scattering properties of horizontally oriented hexagonal ice plates at two wavelengths, 0.55 and 12 μm. The phase functions of horizontally oriented ice plates deviate substantially from their counterparts obtained for randomly oriented particles. Furthermore, we compute the phase functions of horizontally oriented ice crystal columns by using the FDTD method along with two schemes for averaging over the particle orientations. It is shown that the phase functions of hexagonal ice columns with horizontal orientations are not sensitive to the rotation about the principal axes of the particles. Moreover, hexagonal ice crystals and circular cylindrical ice particles have similar optical properties, particularly, at a strongly absorbing wavelength, if the two particle geometries have the same length and aspect ratio defined as the ratio of the radius or semi-width of the cross section of a particle to its length. The phase functions for the two particle geometries are slightly different in the case of weakly absorbing plates with large aspect ratios. However, the solutions for circular cylinders agree well with their counterparts for hexagonal columns.     

内混合强吸收气溶胶粒子光散射的等效性

以黑碳和水两种成分组成的内混合单分散气溶胶粒子为例,根据其各消光效率因子、吸收效率因子和散射相函数,分析了用等效折射率来描述含有不同成分的内混合气溶胶系统的适用性。结果表明：在瑞利散射区和几何光学区内,内核（碳粒）体积比为0.01,0.1,0.5,0.9时,消光效率在大多数尺度参数下等效性都很好,但在米散射区内相对较差;当体积比大于0.3时,其吸收效率、消光效率等效性较好;除瑞利散射区外,散射相函数在各体积比下的等效性都很差。当考虑内混合气溶胶粒子系统的散射和吸收特性时,一般不难找到等效折射率,但在光散射技术中,应用相函数反演等效折射率的可靠性还有待商榷。     

Simultaneous reconstruction of absorption and scattering images by multichannel measurement of purely temporal data

We present what is believed to be the first simultaneous reconstruction of the internal scattering and absorbing properties of a highly scattering medium by use of purely temporal data. These results are also the first acquired with the multichannel time-resolved imaging system developed at University College London.     

Using surface enhanced Raman scattering to study vibrations of adsorbates on thin metallic overlayers on silver

We have studied the surface enhanced Raman scattering from molecules adsorbed on thin gold overlayers on silver island films. The Raman scattering of gold cyanide species adsorbed on gold overlayers decreases in intensity with gold overlayer thickness between 0.5 – 10 Å . This intensity decrease is consistent with a simple model which takes into account the damping of the electromagnetic resonances of the silver islands by the absorbing gold overlayer. Implications of these findings for the enhancement of Raman scattering from adsorbates on other metals deposited as overlayers on silver will be discussed.