Determination of height distribution on a rough interface by measuring the coherently transmitted or reflected light intensity

In this work it is shown theoretically and examined experimentally that the measurement of coherently transmitted or reflected monochromatic light intensity from a randomly rough interface as a function of incident angle provides the height distribution on the interface. It is also shown that the spectrum of coherently transmitted or reflected light from a rough interface is modified and the modified spectrum yields the height distribution. The experimental results obtained by applying both methods, in transmission and reflection, on rough surfaces prepared by roughening the sheet glasses by powders of different grain sizes are quite consistent. In addition, the effect of the surrounding medium's refractive index on the roughness measurement is studied by immersing the samples into liquids of different refractive indices. Also, the application range and limitations of the introduced methods are discussed. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America