Abstract

The distribution of the total energy density of light inside a scattering medium is known to obey the diffusion equation [1]. When light optimization techniques such as wavefront shaping, time reversal and phase conjugation are used to obtain an optimized focus behind a scattering medium, the distribution of the energy density inside the medium is however unknown. It is a challenge to experimentally probe the distribution of the energy density inside a scattering material, since the scattering material is necessarily opaque. For a wavefront shaped light, it has been shown that the total intensity transmitted through a scattering medium deviates from the prediction of the diffusion equation [2]. Furthermore, numerical calculations of light propagation in a two dimensional scattering medium have shown that it is possible to enhance the energy density inside the medium when the incident wavefront is suitably shaped [3]. However, to the best of our knowledge, the enhancement of the energy density inside a three dimensional real scattering medium has never been observed experimentally.

© 2015 IEEE