Taking apart the enhanced backscattering cone: Interference fringes from reciprocal paths in multiple light scattering

Abstract

We report the decomposition of the enhanced backscattering cone into its constitutive interference fringes. These fringes are due to the constructive interference between reciprocal paths of any multiply scattered wave after ensemble averaging. An optical setup combining a two-point continuous-wave illumination and matching detection allows the observation of the fringes and, therefore, the quantitative characterization of the Green's function for light propagation between the two points in a multiple-scattering media.