Transition from the ballistic to the diffusive regime in a turbid medium

Opt Lett. 2011 Apr 15;36(8):1395-7. doi: 10.1364/OL.36.001395.

Abstract

By varying the absorption coefficient and width of an intralipid-India ink solution in a quasi-one-dimensional experiment, we investigate the transition between the ballistic and the diffusive regimes. The medium's attenuation coefficient changes abruptly between two different values within a single mean free path. This problem is analyzed both experimentally and theoretically, and it is demonstrated that the transition location depends on the scattering coefficient as well as on the measuring solid angle.