Polarimetric Backscattering Setup for Quantitative Scattering Parameters Retrieval

Abstract

We present two backscattering polarimetric scanning setups based on point-illumination schemes, that are designed to probe the optical properties of subsurface media. We describe their advantages and limitations, characterize their performance in Mueller matrix determination, and demonstrate their ability to retrieve unknown sample parameters (such as the scattering coefficient and anisotropy factor) using a maximum likelihood approach. As an experimental validation, a polystyrene suspension is investigated as a representative case. By applying Fisher information formalism on the theoretical model, we estimate boundaries of the retrieved parameters.

Published in Optics Express Vol. 34, Issue 10, pp. 18883-18896 (2026). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.598900