Scattering media characterization with phase-only wavefront modulation

A new experimental approach is demonstrated to probe the scattering properties of complex media. Using phase-only modulation of the light illuminating a random scattering sample, we induce and record fluctuations in the reflected speckle patterns. Using predictions from diffusion theory, we obtain the scattering and absorption coefficients of the sample from the average change in the speckle amplitude. Our approach, which is based on interference, is in principle able to give better signal to noise ratio as compared to an intensity modulation approach. We compare our results with those obtained from a knife-edge illumination method and enhanced back-scattering cone. Our work can find application in the non-invasive study of biological specimens as well as the study of light propagation in random scattering devices like solar cells or LEDs.