Scale-dependent anisotropic polarizability in mesoscopic structures.
Optical properties of inhomogeneous materials are, in general, scale dependent. We show that, when observed at mesoscopic scales, the local anisotropic polarizabilities depend on the volume of interaction, which may be limited by either the excitation field or material dimensions. We demonstrate the existence of a specific interaction length scale corresponding to the maximum degree of local anisotropy and discuss its relation to the detailed morphology of a disordered medium. Probing these mesoscopic scales provides information about the local structure and allows characterizing material systems that otherwise may appear similar.
Haefner
David
D
CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816-2700, USA. dhaefner@creol.ucf.edu
Sukhov
Sergey
S
Dogariu
Aristide
A