Backscattering of linearly and circularly polarized light in randomly inhomogeneous media

The scattering of linearly or circularly polarized light from a semibounded randomly inhomogeneous medium is considered. A new technique for simulating the electromagnetic radiation transport using the Monte Carlo method is proposed, which makes it possible to avoid cumbersome calculation of Muller matrices. Expressions are obtained for the co- and cross-polarized components of backscattered light for incident light of arbitrary polarization. The coherent and incoherent backscattering components are calculated for arbitrary combinations of incident and scattered light polarizations. It is shown that the main contribution to coherent backscattering is from the co- and cross-polarized components for linearly and circularly polarized light, respectively. The backscattering from an optically active random medium is calculated.     

Coherent backscattering of light by a layer of discrete random medium

We consider the problem of backscattering of light by a layer of discrete random medium illuminated by an obliquely incident plane electromagnetic wave. The multiply scattered reflected radiation is assumed to consist of incoherent and coherent parts, the coherent part being caused by the interference of multiply scattered waves. Formulas describing the characteristics of the reflected radiation are derived assuming that the scattering particles are spherical. The formula for the incoherent contribution reproduces the standard vector radiative transfer equation. The interference contribution is expressed in terms of a system of Fredholm integral equations with kernels containing Bessel functions. The special case of the backscattering direction is considered in detail. It is shown that the angular width of the backscattering interference peak depends on the polar angle of the incident wave and on the azimuth angle of the reflection direction.     

Influence of the boundary of a medium on the coherent backscattering of light

The multiple scattering of light from an inhomogeneous medium occupying a half-space is investigated on the basis of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. The latter is integrated over the spatial variables to obtain an identity having the significance of the energy balance of the incident and scattered radiations. This relation is then used to derive a length parameter that plays the role of the Milne interpolation length. The use of this parameter in the method of mirror images for describing the shape of the coherent backscattering peak in isotropic single scattering yields results in almost perfect agreement with the predictions of the Milne theory. The application of the given approach for an anisotropic single-scattering diagram yields quantitative agreement of the theory with experiments on the angular dependence of coherent backscattering. The new approach is generalized to an electromagnetic (vector) field, and backscattering polarization effects are investigated. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1912–1928 (December 1999)     

Optical properties of aggregate particles comparable in size to the wavelength

The angular dependence of brightness and linear polarization of randomly oriented aggregates has been investigated in order to find rules connecting their scattering properties with their structure, packing density, complex refractive index, and number and size of the spheres forming the aggregate. Our study is based on an interpretation in terms of successive orders of scattering, in particular on the analysis of the contribution of the interference and near-field effects. Such an approach allowed us to explain and interrelate the main peculiarities of the angular dependence of the intensity and polarization displayed by aggregates. Of special interest are the aggregates showing a so-called negative branch of linear polarization of light scattered into angles close to the backscattering direction. It has been shown that the enhancement of intensity and the negative polarization in this angular range are mainly caused by the interference of multiply scattered waves as well as by near-field effects. If the number of particles in the aggregate is large enough and its size is comparable to the wavelength, the backscattering enhancement is caused by the particles in the surface layers of the aggregate, where the radiation field is mostly homogeneous, while the negative branch is mainly generated by the deeper layers of particles, where the radiation field is inhomogeneous with chaotic changes of amplitudes and phases. This results in a rather weak dependence of the negative polarization on particle location in the deeper layers of the aggregate and on particle number but not on packing density.     

Similarity effects in multiple scattering of coherent radiation: Phenomenology and experiments

Based on phenomenological concepts of statistics of effective optical paths for multiple scattering of coherent radiation, an analysis is carried out of similarity effects observed for the dependences of statistical moments of the scattered field on the relaxation parameters with a dimension of reciprocal length. Within the framework of the diffusion approximation, expressions are obtained that describe the autocorrelation function of fluctuations of the scattered-field amplitude, the degree of polarization, and the normalized intensity of scattered light for media with a finite absorption length in the case of forward scattering of coherent radiation in a plane layer of an isotropic scattering medium. The results of the analysis show the similarity of the dependences of these quantities on the corresponding spatial scales. Experiments with model scattering media (aqueous suspensions of polystyrene spherical particles) supported the existence of similarity effects in multiple scattering. An experimental study was made of the relation between the characteristic depolarization length and the transport length for multiple scattering of coherent radiation in a plane layer. The effective value of the radiation diffusion coefficient providing the best agreement between the experimental and the calculated values of parameters of the scattered field is shown to be independent of the absorption coefficient of a medium.     

Influence of Electric and Magnetic Fields on Interference Effects upon Multiple Light Scattering in Cold Atomic Ensembles

The correlation functions of the electromagnetic radiation scattered by an ensemble of atoms cooled to sub-Doppler temperatures and placed in an external static electric or magnetic field have been calculated by the diagram technique. Based on the derived relations, we have studied in detail the effect of coherent backscattering (CBS) of light. We have calculated the enhancement factor for CBS and analyzed its polarization and spectral dependences. We show that external fields affect the nature of multiple light scattering in an atomic ensemble, in particular, the character of interference upon such scattering, by leading to its optical anisotropy and related birefringence and dichroism. This, in turn, affects all of the observed CBS characteristics.     

Diagnostics of nanodisperse polycrystals based on the polarization bremsstrahlung of relativistic electrons

The spectra of polarization bremsstrahlung are measured in the backscattering geometry during the interaction of 7-MeV electrons with a polycrystalline Ni foil. Measurement is conducted under conditions such that the size of the region of coherent X-ray radiation scattering in a target is on the order of 10 nm. The obtained results make it possible to suggest that using polarization bremsstrahlung as a new method for the diagnostics of the atomic structures of nanodisperse polycrystals is effective.     

Interference effects in backscattering of light by a layer of a discrete random medium

Multiple backscattering of light by a layer of a discrete random medium is considered. A brief derivation of equations for describing the coherent and incoherent components of scattered light is presented. These equations are solved numerically in the approximation of doubled scattering of light by a semi-infinite medium of spherical scatterers having a size comparable with the wavelength in order to study the effect of the properties of particles on the angular dependence of interference effects. Calculations show that the half-width of the interference peak decreases upon an increase in lateral scattering by particles and that the degree of polarization has a complex angular dependence on the properties of the particles. For an optically thin layer of the medium, the relations defining the interference peak half-width and the scattering angle upon extreme linear polarization as functions of the effective refractive index are given.     

Characteristics of light scattering by normal and modified areas of skin tissue

Results from numerical calculations and experimental studies of the optical backscattering coefficients and changes in the polarization characteristics of normal and modified (birthmark, scar) skin tissue structures are presented. It is shown that determining the Mueller matrix is an effective way of detecting changes in the structure of skin tissue in vivo which reflects changes in the depolarization of light by an object for different polarization parameters of the incident (probe) radiation. The depolarization of light is found to be symmetric for normal areas of skin and antisymmetric for skin tissue with a modified structure. It is proposed that the polarization characteristics of scattered radiation be used in detecting damaged areas of skin tissue.     

Coherent backscattering effect from mid-frequency shallow water reverberation

The coherent backscattering (or backscattering enhancement) effect results from persistent interferences between multiply scattered waves propagating along reciprocal paths. This effect results in a doubling of the recorded backscattered intensity reflected exactly in the backward direction with respect to any other direction, after averaging intensity measurements collected over multiple emission angles. This letter presents experimental observations of the coherent backscattering effect from mid-frequency (3-4 kHz) shallow water reverberation measurements collected using a two-dimensional hydrophone array (8.4 × 1.5 m(2)). These results demonstrate the presence of coherent effects in shallow water reverberation not commonly accounted for.     

Bremsstrahlung of nonrelativistic electrons in metals with allowance made for the polarization channel

We theoretically investigate the bremsstrahlung that appears when nonrelativistic electrons are scattered in a metal target with allowance made for the polarization contribution. We take into account the interference of ordinary and polarization bremsstrahlung, the absorption of radiation in the target material, the energy losses and elastic scattering of an electron by atoms of the medium, and the coherent effects when the radiating electron interacts with the target. We analyze the influence of the target thickness on the process and the contribution of polarization bremsstrahlung to the total yield of bremsstrahlung photons as a function of the problem parameters.     

Coherent backscattering under conditions of pulsed radiation trapping

Coherent backscattering of pulsed radiation emitted by optically dense atomic ensembles is considered. The diagrammatic technique is used for deriving analytic expressions for correlation functions of scattered light, which make it possible to take into account all main factors affecting the dynamics of the process, including the hyperfine and Zeeman structure of the ground and first excited states of atoms, polarization of probe radiation, the actual shape and size of an atomic cloud, its spatial inhomogeneity, motion of atoms, and angular-momentum polarization of atoms. On the basis of these relations, the time dependence of the total intensity and the dependence of enhancement factor of backscattered light on the pulse duration, type of polarization of the polarization system of observation, optical thickness of the scattering medium, and the carrier frequency of the pulse are investigated. The calculations are performed for an ensemble of rubidium-85 atoms cooled in magnetooptical traps.     

Anomalous polarization effects during light scattering in random media

The dependence of the intensity of light backscattered from a layer of a randomly inhomogeneous medium on the polarization of incident light and the size of scatterers has been investigated. The results of numerical simulation have demonstrated that the direction of rotation of the plane of polarization is different in systems with small- and large-scale inhomogeneities. It is shown for the first time that the dependence of the sign of the residual circular polarization on the size of scatterers can be observed in systems described by the Henyey-Greenstein phase function used in simulating biological tissues. A similar anomalous polarization effect, which consists in changing the direction of rotation of the plane of polarization of backscattered light with an increase in the scattering angle, is revealed in studying the coherent backscattering component. These polarization effects are observed in light backscattering from optically active media.     

Spectrum of coherent backscattering of light by two atoms

The inelastic spectrum of coherent backscattering of laser light by two atoms was theoretically studied. For an intense laser field, there are frequency domains of either constructive or destructive self-interference of inelastically scattered photons. The emergent spectral features were interpreted by considering coherent backscattering as a pump-probe experiment. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Coherent backscattering of light in nematic liquid crystals

Multiple light scattering by director fluctuations in nematic liquid crystals is considered. A uniform director orientation is assumed to be specified by an applied magnetic field. The coherent backscattering effect, which consists in the presence of a sharp light backscattering peak, is studied. The Bethe-Salpeter equation is used to calculate the multiple scattering intensity taking into account the contributions of ladder and cyclic diagrams. An analytical expression for the angular and polarization dependences of the coherent backscattering intensity is obtained in terms of the diffusion approximation. The calculation and experimental results are compared. The developed theory is shown to qualitatively describe the elliptical shape of the backscattering cone, to explain the absence of a coherent contribution for crossed polarizations, and to calculate the relative peak height.     

Coherent inelastic light scattering from a microwave-excited array of magnetic particles

Inelastic light scattering from an array of Permalloy particles driven by a microwave magnetic field is shown to be a coherent phenomenon in which the scattered radiation is observed only at diffraction angles corresponding to the reciprocal lattice of the array. The results are explained in terms of the phase coherence of the inelastically scattered light by each of the particles.     

Coherent excitation of then=3 level of hydrogen in a field free region

The theory of coherent excitation of then=3 level of atomic hydrogen by electron impact is studied using density matrix techniques. A set of multipole parameters is defined which allows to characterise coherently excited states with different angular momenta. Numerical results of these parameters, calculated in first order Born approximation, are tabulated for several energies and angles. Angular distribution and polarization of Balmer-α radiation are expressed in terms of the initial multipole parameters for the case that scattered electrons and emitted photons are detected in coincidence. The theory of cascade effects is briefly considered and applied to the case where scattered electrons and Lyman-α photons are detected in coincidence, generalising earlier formulations. Most of the formulas presented here are quite general and can be applied, for example, to an analysis of light emitted by beam foil excited hydrogenic levels.     

阻抗劈绕射对破碎波后向散射特性的影响

海浪的破碎区会导致海面电磁散射特性发生很大改变,导致海尖峰现象的产生.本文结合阻抗劈结构模型分析了劈绕射对破碎波后向散射特性的影响.首先利用基尔霍夫近似求解破碎波的物理光学场;基于Maliuzhinets方法,从波动方程及精确阻抗边界条件出发,由谱函数的积分形式得到阻抗劈的一致性绕射系数,结合物理光学绕射系数导出阻抗劈等效边缘电磁流;利用边缘绕射场修正物理光学场,得到考虑劈绕射效应的破碎波散射总场.数值结果表明,阻抗劈的绕射场在Keller锥内出现HH极化大于VV极化的现象,因此计入绕射场的影响会使得破碎波生长到临近坍塌阶段时,小擦地角逆风观测出现总场的后向散射截面HH极化大于VV极化的现象,说明劈绕射是造成海尖峰现象产生的原因之一.     

Coherent opposition effects for semi-infinite discrete random medium in the double-scattering approximation

The rigorous equations of the theory of multiple scattering of light by a layer of disordered medium have been used in the double-scattering approximation for semi-infinite medium to determine the influence of the particle properties on the coherent opposition effects. The effects were found to be strongly dependent on the concentration of scatterers in the medium. The polarization opposition effect is more sensitive to the properties of the scatterers than the photometric opposition effect. The interference of waves could result in the negative polarization at the backscattering direction as well as in the positive polarization.     

Coherent inelastic backscattering of intense laser light by cold atoms

We present a nonperturbative treatment of coherent backscattering of intense laser light from cold atoms and predict a nonvanishing backscattering signal even at very large intensities, due to the constructive (self-)interference of inelastically scattered photons.