Experimental and numerical analysis of polarized light through random distributed spherical particles

We have studied the polarization characteristics of light scattered from randomly distributed spherical particles using the 4x4 Mueller matrix. The experimental system consists of a Helium-Neon laser, polarizers (vertical, horizontal, 45-degree linear, left-hand circular) and six analyzers (vertical, horizontal, 45-degree linear, 135-degree linear, right-hand circular, left-hand circular). If the six polarized states of the scattered light for a given incident polarization are measured with analyzers, we can calculate the Stokes vector. By repeating this measurement for four independent incident polarizations, we can obtain the complete Mueller matrix. Random media consist of spherical particles of different concentrations suspended in water. The numerical study is based on the complete solution of the radiative transfer equation. Using the discrete ordinate method and matrix solver, we obtain the Stokes vector for a given incident polarization. By calculating Stokes vector for four independent polarizations, we can obtain a full Mueller matrix. The experimental results are compared with the numerical analysis.