Abstract

There has been theoretical and experimental work in the area of enhanced backscatter.¹,² A simulation was developed that consists of a wave passing through a random inhomogeneous medium that has a power law spectrum. The wave is then reflected back through the same medium at which point the angular intensity statistics are studied. This simulation was tested and compared with theoretical work conducted by Jakeman.³ The cases that were studied included the diffraction effects of changing the contour of the mirror and the spectral index of the scattering medium of the phase screen. Enhanced backscatter otherwise termed as partial phase conjugation is a phenomenon that occurs when a wave has been reflected back through the same inhomogeneous medium it traversed. The concept behind this phenomenon begins when a wave passes through a random inhomogeneous medium and propagates some distance beyond the medium but within the Fresnel region at which point the wave encounters a mirror. The wave is then reflected back through the same medium. The average angular far field intensity shows this phenomenon occurring that causes an enhancement of a portion of the spatial spectrum.

© 1989 Optical Society of America