Abstract

It is demonstrated that the occurence of backscattered polarization patterns relates to the conservation of angular momentum of light. Using the geometrical phase formalism in the spin space, we develop a model where the helicity-maintaining and the helicity-flipping multiple-scattering processes can be accounted for. The model explains practically all the symmetries present in the spatially resolved Mueller matrices.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

Backscattered polarization patterns, optical vortices, and the angular momentum of light

Chaim Schwartz and Aristide Dogariu
Opt. Lett. 31(8) 1121-1123 (2006)

Conservation of angular momentum of light in single scattering

Chaim Schwartz and Aristide Dogariu
Opt. Express 14(18) 8425-8433 (2006)

Angular momentum of multimode and polarization patterns

Roberta Zambrini and Stephen M. Barnett
Opt. Express 15(23) 15214-15227 (2007)

Geometric depolarization in patterns formed by backscattered light

David Lacoste, Vincent Rossetto, Franck Jaillon, and Hervé Saint-Jalmes
Opt. Lett. 29(17) 2040-2042 (2004)

Characterization of backscattering Mueller matrix patterns of highly scattering media with triple scattering assumption

Yong Deng, Shaoqun Zeng, Qiang Lu, Dan zhu, and Qingming Luo
Opt. Express 15(15) 9672-9680 (2007)