Deep transmission of Laguerre-Gaussian vortex beams through turbid scattering media

Light scattering and transmission of Gaussian (G) and Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) vortex beams with different orbital angular momentum (L) in various turbid media were investigated. Transmittance was measured with varied ratios of sample thickness (z) to scattering mean free path (l(s)) of turbid media, z/l(s). In the ballistic region, the LG and G beams were found to have no significant difference on transmittance, while in the diffusive region, the LG beams showed a higher received signal than the G beams, and the LG beams with higher L values showed a higher received signal than those with lower L values. The transition points from ballistic to diffusive regions for different scattering media were determined. This newly observed transmittance difference of LG and G beams may be used for deep target detection in turbid media through LG beam imaging. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America