Transport of Circularly Polarized Light

The behaviour of circularly polarized light propagating within complex scattering media is investigated. The striking "memory effect" of this form of polarization has previously displayed a significant dependence on various medium properties, where this dependence remains to be completely understood. Here, we derive a characteristic depolarization scale for media consisting of spherical scattering particles which permits any distribution in particle size, and refractive index. Through both simulated, and experimental methods, we then investigate the relationship of the derived depolarization scale to the measurable degree of circular polarization of diffusely scattered light. This investigation reveals evidence of a similarity relationship for the degree of circular polarization, analogous to the well known similarity relationships of the scalar radiative transport equation. Finally, we explore a number of applications which leverage our findings, these include: An alternative approach towards forward modelling of the measurable degree of circular polarization of light scattering from complex media; the construction of optical phantom media with precisely controlled depolarization properties; and the recovery of particle size information in the inverse problem