Non-Gaussian statistics of optical near-fields

Abstract

Optical fields in the proximity of random media can be modeled as a superposition of waves with random phases. We demonstrate that, depending on the experimental geometry, both Gaussian and non-Gaussian regimes can be established for the statistics of scattered intensity. In a reflection-emission configuration, the first-order statistics of the scattered light is non-Gaussian and it can be used to retrieve information about the physical interface.