Isotropically Polarized Speckle Patterns

Mikolaj K. Schmidt, Javier Aizpurua, Xavier Zambrana-Puyalto, Xavier Vidal, Gabriel Molina-Terriza, and Juan José Sáenz
Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 113902 – Published 20 March 2015
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Abstract

The polarization of the light scattered by an optically dense and random solution of dielectric nanoparticles shows peculiar properties when the scatterers exhibit strong electric and magnetic polarizabilities. While the distribution of the scattering intensity in these systems shows the typical irregular speckle patterns, the helicity of the incident light can be fully conserved when the electric and magnetic polarizabilities of the scatterers are equal. We show that the multiple scattering of helical beams by a random dispersion of “dual” dipolar nanospheres leads to a speckle pattern exhibiting a perfect isotropic constant polarization, a situation that could be useful in coherent control of light as well as in lasing in random media.

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  • Received 29 September 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.113902

© 2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Mikolaj K. Schmidt1,2,*, Javier Aizpurua1,2, Xavier Zambrana-Puyalto3,4, Xavier Vidal3, Gabriel Molina-Terriza3,4, and Juan José Sáenz2,5,†

  • 1Materials Physics Center CSIC-UPV/EHU, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
  • 2Donostia International Physics Center DIPC, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 4, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia
  • 4ARC Center for Engineered Quantum Systems, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2109, Australia
  • 5Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Instituto Nicolás Cabrera and Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain

  • *mikolaj_schmidt@ehu.es
  • juanjo.saenz@uam.es

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Issue

Vol. 114, Iss. 11 — 20 March 2015

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