Characteristic scales of optical field depolarization and decorrelation for multiple scattering media and tissues

Reference-free path length interferometry of random media with the intensity moments analysis

Stochastic interference of partially coherent light multiple scattered by a random medium is considered. The relationship between the second- and third-order moments of intensity fluctuations in random interference patterns, the coherence function of probe radiation, and the probability density of path differences for the interfering partial waves in the medium are established. The obtained relationships were verified using the statistical analysis of spectrally selected fluorescence radiation emitted by the laser-pumped dye-doped random medium. Rhodamine 6G water solution was applied as the doping agent for the ensembles of densely packed silica grains which were pumped by the CW radiation (532 nm) from the diode-pumped solid state laser. Experimentally observed abrupt decay of the second- and third-order moments of fluorescence intensity fluctuations for the wavelengths ranging from 620 nm to 680 nm is interpreted in terms of amplification of spontaneous emission at large dye concentrations. This paper discusses the new optical probe of random media defined as "the reference-free path length interferometry with the intensity moments analysis".

Spectral shifts as a signature of the onset of diffusion of broadband terahertz pulses

We describe measurements of polarization dynamics as a probe of multiple scattering of photons in a random medium by use of single-cycle terahertz pulses. We measure the degree of polarization and correlate it directly with the single-scattering regime in the time domain. We also measure the evolution of the temporal phase of the radiation and show that the average spectral content depends on the state of polarization. In the case of broadband radiation, this effect can be used to distinguish photons that have been scattered a few times from those that are propagating diffusively.