Observation of giant enhanced backscattering of light from weakly rough dielectric films on reflecting metal substrates

Zu-Han Gu; Michel A. Josse; Mikael Ciftan

doi:10.1117/1.600906

1 February 1996 Observation of giant enhanced backscattering of light from weakly rough dielectric films on reflecting metal substrates

Zu-Han Gu, Michel A. Josse, Mikael Ciftan

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Optical Engineering, Vol. 35, Issue 2, (February 1996). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.600906

The enhanced backscattering of light from a randomly rough surface, which is manifested as a narrow peak in the retroreflection direction in the angular distribution of the intensity of the light that is scattered diffusely, has been extensively studied. Both theoretical and experimental investigations have shown that the height of the peak is never more than twice the height of the background at the position of the peak. We report the observation of a giant enhanced backscattering of light from a randomly weak rough dielectric film on a reflecting metal substrate, in which the ratio of the height of the peak to the height of the background at its position is greater than 10. It is found that this giant enhanced backscattering peak is accompanied by concentric circular interference fringes, whose axis is normal to the mean scattering surface, with both the specular and backscattering peak on the same ring. A possible mechanism for the giant backscattering is suggested.

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Zu-Han Gu, Michel A. Josse, and Mikael Ciftan "Observation of giant enhanced backscattering of light from weakly rough dielectric films on reflecting metal substrates," Optical Engineering 35(2), (1 February 1996). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.600906

Published: 1 February 1996

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