Effects of Spatial Coherence on the Angular Distribution of Radiant Intensity Generated by Scattering on a Sphere

Thomas van Dijk, David G. Fischer, Taco D. Visser, and Emil Wolf
Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 173902 – Published 30 April 2010

Abstract

In the analysis of light scattering on a sphere it is implicitly assumed that the incident field is spatially fully coherent. However, under usual circumstances the field is partially coherent. We generalize the partial waves expansion method to this situation and examine the influence of the degree of coherence of the incident field on the radiant intensity of the scattered field in the far zone. We show that when the coherence length of the incident field is comparable to, or is smaller than, the radius of the sphere, the angular distribution of the radiant intensity depends strongly on the degree of coherence. The results have implications, for example, for scattering in the atmosphere and colloidal suspensions.

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  • Received 24 January 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.173902

©2010 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Thomas van Dijk

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

David G. Fischer

  • Research and Technology Directorate, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, USA

Taco D. Visser

  • Department of Electrical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

Emil Wolf

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, and The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA

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Issue

Vol. 104, Iss. 17 — 30 April 2010

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