Electromagnetic phase differences in the coherent backscattering enhancement mechanism for random media consisting of...

Phase curves of intensity are calculated for light scattering in media randomly packed with large nontransparent spheres (x=125), the surfaces of which reflect according to the Fresnel equations. We consider three values of refractive index: m = 0.73 + i5.93 (metal Al), 1.6 + i1.72 (metal Fe), and 1.5 + i0.1 (black glass). We use a Monte Carlo ray-tracing approach. Different kinds of electromagnetic phase differences of reciprocal trajectories are investigated for the second and third orders of scattering; the highest orders give comparatively small contributions due to the backward-scattering indicatrix of large nontransparent spheres. We find that the main electromagnetic phase difference between the direct and time-reversal (reciprocal) trajectories is the outer phase difference that depends only on the relative positions of the first and last points of the ray reflections and the phase angle. The inner phase difference is connected with the changing path length of the ray inside the medium. This depends on the particle size and the phase angle that is the angle between the source and receiver from the scatterer, i.e., 180 degrees minus the scattering angle. The inner phase difference can give oscillations in the phase curve consisting of second-order components if the medium consists of strictly monodisperse spheres. Usually the coherent backscattering enhancement is calculated ignoring the shadow-hiding effect. We show that accounting for the shadowing of the reciprocal trajectory is important for the formation of the backscattering effect. The third-order scattering surge is a superposition of wide and narrow opposition spikes that correspond to two different types of scattering trajectories, closed and opened ones. The first type is due to scattering by two particles; the second one corresponds to scattering by three particles.