Investigating the optical translucency of Spectralon using BSSRDF measurements

Translucent materials have the property of reflecting light beyond the illumination point due to subsurface light propagation in the material. These reflectance properties can be characterized using the bidirectional scattering-surface reflectance distribution function (BSSRDF), a radiometric quantity that is a function of spatial, angular, spectral, and polarization parameters. At very small scales, we have observed that Spectralon, a commercial material widely used as a diffuse reflectance calibration standard, can be regarded as translucent. This can generate measurement errors and limit Spectralon's reliability as a calibration artefact for instruments that measure optical quantities on very small surfaces. To characterize the translucent properties of Spectralon, we have measured its BSSRDF using an experimental setup based on a goniospectrophotometer with a spatial scanning system for detection. In the present study, we show that Spectralon cannot be considered an opaque material at small scales (below 1 mm). For instrument measuring on small areas, Spectralon can be used for calibration only when the illumination area and the observation area differ by more than 1 mm in radius.