Experimental Investigation of the Multiple Scattering of a Polarized Laser Beam

In this paper the forward-scattered diffuse radiation produced by a circularly polarized laser beam impinging on a finite plane-parallel scattering medium is studied experimentally. The radial variation of the forward-scattered Stokes vector is analyzed. Values of the degree of circular and linear polarization of the scattered radiation computed using experimental data are compared with values obtained using a Monte Carlo code. Trends with respect to the size parameters of the scatterers and the optical thickness are also presented. It was observed that the diffuse radiation is strongly polarized, even at large optical radii. This is true for all the size parameters and optical depths of the medium studied.