Analytic evaluation of diffuse fluence error in multilayer scattering media with discontinuous refractive index

A simple analytic method of estimating the error involved in using an approximate boundary condition for diffuse radiation in two adjoining scattering media with differing refractive indices is presented. The method is based on asymptotic planar fluences and enables the relative error to be readily evaluated without recourse to Monte Carlo simulation. Three examples of its application are considered: (1) evaluating the error in calculating the diffuse fluences at a boundary between two media with differing refractive index and dissimilar scattering properties, (2) the dependence of the relative error in a multilayer medium with discontinuous refractive index on the ratio of the reduced scattering coefficient to the absorption coefficient μ(s)'/μ(a), and (3) the parametric dependence of the error in the radiant flux J(s) at the surface of a three-layer medium. The error is significant for strongly forward-biased scattering media with non-negligible absorption and is cumulative in multilayered media with refractive index increments between layers.