Open AccessExperimental and numerical analysis of ballistic and scattered light using femtosecond optical Kerr gating: a way for the characterization of strongly scattering media
Author(s) -
François-Xavier d’Abzac,
M. Kervella,
Laurent Hespel,
Thibault Dartigalongue
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.20.009604
Subject(s) - optics , femtosecond , kerr effect , scattering , mie scattering , polarization (electrochemistry) , light scattering , physics , monte carlo method , radius , gating , laser , materials science , chemistry , physiology , statistics , mathematics , computer security , quantum mechanics , nonlinear system , computer science , biology
We have developed a new experimental setup based on optical Kerr gating in order to isolate either the transmitted or the scattered light going through an optically thick medium. This selectivity can be obtained by finely tuning the focusing of the different laser beams in the Kerr medium. We have developed an experimental setup. A Monte Carlo simulation scheme generates an accurate model of scattering processes taking into account the time of flight, the geometry of the Kerr gating and the polarization. We show that our experimental setup is capable of analyzing the transmitted light with optical densities up to OD = 9.7, and scattered light beyond OD = 347 in poly-disperse silica spheres in water (distribution centered on ~0.9 µm radius) at λ = 550 nm. Strongly positive correlations are obtained with simulations.