Internal reflection of diffusive light in random media

TLDR

The study investigates how internal reflection of multiply scattered light at disordered media boundaries affects various optical experiments, including diffusing‑wave spectroscopy, coherent backscattering, frequency correlations, and pulse propagation. The authors measured angular correlation functions in transmission and reflection across varying thicknesses for both high‑ and low‑index mismatch media. They demonstrated that a single reflection coefficient in the boundary condition quantitatively captures internal reflection effects, yielding consistent agreement between experiment and theory.

Abstract

The consequences of internal reflection of multiply scattered light at the boundaries of disordered media are studied. We show that the effect of internal reflection due to index mismatch can be quantitatively accounted for with a single parameter by incorporating a reflection coefficient into the boundary condition for the diffusive light. We measure the angular correlation functions in transmission and reflection at different thicknesses for both high- and low-index mismatch. By including the effect of internal reflection, we are able to obtain consistent quantitative agreement between experiment and theory. Extensions to other experiments including diffusing-wave spectroscopy, coherent backscattering, frequency correlations, and pulse propagation are discussed.