Spatial modulation of scattering of ultrashort light pulses in anisotropic crystals

The spatial dependence of the intensity of optical radiation scattered in turbid anisotropic crystals in the direction perpendicular to the wave vector is studied. The calculations are made for ultrashort light pulses, It is shown that the initial portion of this dependence has an oscillatory shape and that the oscillations of intensity of scattered light damp with increasing distance in the direction of the wave vector, with the damping constant being determined by the light pulse duration. In this respect, scattering differs from luminescence, whose modulation damping may be determined by the dephasing time of excited centers. Because of this, scattering is better suited for the development of a new method of measuring the duration of the ultrashort optical pulses under consideration, which is based on the use of spatial modulation phenomena.