title: Experimental study of the opposition effect in the scattering of light from a randomly rough metal surface.
abstract: The opposition effect manifested as a narrow peak in the angular distribution of the intensity of diffusely scattered light in the backward (antispecular or retroreflection) direction has been experimentally investigated. A monostatic bidirectional laser reflectometer was used to measure the opposition effect of copper and gold surfaces under illumination at 0.6328 microm. The results are compared with a recent theory of the elastic scattering of light from a randomly rough metal surface that predicts such a peak in the retroreflectance direction, which, in certain conditions, can be related to the localization of surface polaritons.
authors.forename: Z H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Dummer
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Maradudin
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: McGurn