
Evolution of transmitted depolarization in diffusely scattering media
Author(s) -
Thomas A. Germer
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the optical society of america. a, optics, image science, and vision./journal of the optical society of america. a, online
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.803
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1520-8532
pISSN - 1084-7529
DOI - 10.1364/josaa.390598
Subject(s) - physics , scattering , monte carlo method , optics , radiation , mueller calculus , photon , attenuation , collimated light , mean free path , forward scatter , detector , computational physics , mathematics , polarimetry , laser , statistics
We performed Mueller matrix Monte Carlo simulations of the propagation of optical radiation in diffusely scattering media for collimated incidence and report the results as a function of thickness and the angle subtended by the detector. For sufficiently small thickness, a fraction of the radiation does not undergo any scattering events and is emitted at zero angle. Thus, for a very small detector angle, the measured signal will indicate mostly the attenuation of the coherent contribution, while for larger angles, the diffuse scattering radiation will contribute significantly more. The degree to which the radiation is depolarized thus depends on the angle subtended by the detector. A three-stream model-where the coherent radiation, the forward diffusely scattered radiation, and the backward scattered radiation are propagated according to the differential Mueller matrix formalism-is introduced and describes the results from the Monte Carlo simulations and the results of measurements well. This scatter-based model for depolarization in diffusely scattering media is an alternative to that based upon elementary fluctuation theory applied to a single propagation stream. Results for average photon path length, determined from the Monte Carlo simulations, suggest that applying fluctuation theory to photon path length may unify the two approaches.