Spatial coherence of forward-scattered light in a turbid medium.

Abstract

We study spatially coherent forward-scattered light propagating in a turbid medium of moderate optical depth (0-9 mean free paths). Coherent detection was achieved by using a tilted heterodyne geometry, which desensitizes coherent detection of the attenuated incident light. We show that the degree of spatial coherence is significantly higher for light scattered only once in comparison with that for multiply scattered light and that it approaches a small constant value for large numbers of scattering events.