title: Time-resolved backscattering of circularly and linearly polarized light in a turbid medium.
abstract: Time-resolved backscattering profiles of circularly and linearly polarized light were measured from a turbid medium composed of small and large polystyrene sphere particles in water. It is shown that, based on the measurements of the time-resolved backscattered copolarized and cross-polarized components of the incident polarized light, either linearly or circularly polarized light can be used to effectively image an object that is deep inside a turbid medium composed of small particles, depending on the depolarization properties of the object itself. For large particles such as in tissue, fog, and clouds, the experimentally observed polarization memory effect on the backscattering temporal profiles suggests that a significant improvement in the image contrast can be achieved by use of circularly polarized light.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers, Department of Physics, City College of New York, Graduate School of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Alfano
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization / Q000379:methods*; D009391:Nephelometry and Turbidimetry / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids