Scattering of light by a large, densely-packed agglomerate of small silica spheres

International audienceWe model the measured phase function and degree of linear polarization of a macroscopic agglomerate made of micron-scale silica spheres using the methodology of multiple scattering. In the laboratory work, the agglomerate is produced ballistically, characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and measured with the PROGRA2 instrument to obtain the light scattering properties. The model phase function and degree of polarization are in satisfactory agreement with the ex- perimental data. To our best knowledge, this is the first time the degree of linear polarization has been mod- eled well for a large, densely-packed agglomerate com- posed of small particles with known sizes and shapes. The study emphasizes the relevance of the degree of lin- ear polarization and gives insights into the effect