3D-PSTD simulation and polarization analysis of a light pulse transmitted through a scattering medium

A tridimensional pseudo-spectral time domain (3D-PSTD) algorithm, that solves the full-wave Maxwell's equations by using Fourier transforms to calculate the spatial derivatives, has been applied to determine the time characteristics of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in inhomogeneous media. Since the 3D simulation gives access to the full-vector components of the electromagnetic fields, it allowed us to analyse the polarization state of the scattered light with respect to the characteristics of the scattering medium and the polarization state of the incident light. We show that, while the incident light is strongly depolarized on the whole, the light that reaches the output face of the scattering medium is much less depolarized. This fact is consistent with our recently reported experimental results, where a rotation of the polarization does not preclude the restoration of an image by phase conjugation. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America