Wings of coherent backscattering from a disordered medium with large inhomogeneities

Abstract

We calculate the nondiffusive contribution to the intensity of coherent backscattering from a disordered medium composed of large-scale scatterers. The wings of the coherent backscattering cone are shown to be governed by short-path waves that experience small-angle multiple scattering before and after single scattering in the backward direction. For relatively large angles θ of deviation from the backward direction, θ > λ/l(tr) (λ is the wavelength of light, l(tr) is the transport mean free path), the intensity falls off slower than θ(-1) and is directly related to a law of single scattering through small angles. Our calculations are in good agreement with experimental data for large Mie spheres.