Amplitude and phase of tightly focused laser beams in turbid media

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Jul 24;103(4):043903. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.043903. Epub 2009 Jul 23.

Abstract

A framework is developed that combines electric field Monte Carlo simulations of random scattering with an angular-spectrum representation of diffraction theory to determine the amplitude and phase characteristics of tightly focused laser beams in turbid media. For planar sample geometries, the scattering-induced coherence loss of wave vectors at larger angles is shown to be the primary mechanism for broadening the focal volume. This approach for evaluating the formation of the focal volume in turbid media is of direct relevance to the imaging properties of nonlinear coherent microscopy, which rely on both the amplitude and phase of the focused fields.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Lasers*
  • Microscopy, Confocal*
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Nephelometry and Turbidimetry
  • Scattering, Radiation