Acousto-optic tomography with multiply scattered light

Abstract

We have investigated the modulation of the optical field transmitted through a colloid of polystyrene spheres by a narrow quasi-cw ultrasound beam. Measurements of the scale dependence of the heterodyne modulation signal at the acoustic frequency are obtained for samples that are up to 140 scattering lengths thick. A calculation of the modulation signal predicts the possibility of tomographic imaging, which is confirmed experimentally.