167 research outputs found
Polarization and spatial coherence of electromagnetic waves in uncorrelated disordered media
Spatial field correlation functions represent a key quantity for the
description of mesoscopic phenomena in disordered media and the optical
characterization of complex materials. Yet many aspects related to the vector
nature of light waves have not been investigated so far. We study theoretically
the polarization and coherence properties of electromagnetic waves produced by
a dipole source in a three-dimensional uncorrelated disordered medium. The
spatial field correlation matrix is calculated analytically using a multiple
scattering theory for polarized light. This allows us to provide a formal
description of the light depolarization process in terms of "polarization
eigenchannels" and to derive analytical formulas for the spatial coherence of
multiply-scattered light
Multiple scattering of polarized light in disordered media exhibiting short-range structural correlations
We develop a model based on a multiple scattering theory to describe the
diffusion of polarized light in disordered media exhibiting short-range
structural correlations. Starting from exact expressions of the average field
and the field spatial correlation function, we derive a radiative transfer
equation for the polarization-resolved specific intensity that is valid for
weak disorder and we solve it analytically in the diffusion limit. A
decomposition of the specific intensity in terms of polarization eigenmodes
reveals how structural correlations, represented via the standard anisotropic
scattering parameter , affect the diffusion of polarized light. More
specifically, we find that propagation through each polarization eigenchannel
is described by its own transport mean free path that depends on in a
specific and non-trivial way
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