Depolarization of light by rough surface of scattering phantoms

The growing interest in biomedical optics to the polarimetric methods push researchers to better understand of light depolarization during scattering in and on the surface of biological tissues. Here we study the depolarization of light propagated in silicone phantoms. The phantoms with variety of surface roughness and bulk optical properties are designed to imitate human skin. Free-space speckle patterns in parallel (I-II) and perpendicular (I-perpendicular to) direction in respect to incident polarization are used to get the depolarization ratio of backscattered light DR = (I-II -I-perpendicular to)/(I-II + I-perpendicular to). The Monte Carlo model developed in house is also applied to compare simulated DR with experimentally measured. DR dependence on roughness, concentration and size of scattering particles is analysed. A weak depolarization and negligible response to scattering of the medium are observed for phantoms with smooth surfaces, whereas for the surface roughness in order to the mean free path the depolarization ratio decreases and reveals dependence on the bulk scattering coefficient. In is shown that the surface roughness could be a key factor triggering the ability of tissues' characterization by depolarization ratio.