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Polarization properties of light backscattered from a two layer scattering medium

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Abstract

The polarization properties of light backscattered from a two layer scattering medium are investigated. Linear, circular and elliptical polarization states are considered and it is demonstrated that the degree of polarization of the backscattered light is sensitive to the optical properties of both layers and to layer thickness. Furthermore, it is shown that the polarization memory of circularly polarized light enables deeper layers to be probed whereas linearly polarized light is more sensitive to surface layers. This has applications for characterizing burns and melanoma.

©2000 Optical Society of America

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Figures (4)

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Experimental set up. The input polarization state is set by a λ/4 plate. Light scattered from the two layer scattering medium is then analyzed using a λ/4 plate and a linear polarizer (LP). The modulated light is detected using a PIN photodiode and measured with a lock-in amplifier.
Fig.2.
Fig.2. Degree of polarization measured for different scatterer concentration in medium 1 and different input polarization states. Medium 2 is not present (totally absorbing).
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Different types of photons emerging from the scattering medium. a) Linear polarization contains those that emerge maintaining the original state after a single, or relatively few scattering events, and multiply scattered (depolarized) light. b) circular contains those that have their helicity flipped by a mirror reflection, maintain the original polarization state by a series of forward scattering events and multiply scattered (depolarized) photons.
Fig.4.
Fig.4. Degree of polarization measured for different scatterer concentration in medium 1 and different input polarization states. Medium 2 is a solid tissue phantom (µs=40mm-1, µ a=0.009mm-1).

Equations (2)

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μ s ( a ) d ( a ) = μ s ( b ) d ( b )
Degree of polarization = I co I cross I co + I cross
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