Discriminating turbid media by scatterer size and scattering coefficient using backscattered linearly and circularly polarized light

The effects of scatterer size and scattering coefficient on backscattered linearly and circularly polarized light are investigated through Stokes polarimetry. High-SNR polarization modulation/synchronous detection measurements are corroborated by polarization-sensitive Monte Carlo simulations. Circular degree of polarization (DOP) is found to be sensitive to scatterer size, but is equivocal at times due to helicity flipping effects; linear DOP appears to be mostly dependent on the medium scattering coefficient. We exploit these trends to generate a DOPC - DOPL response surface which clusters turbid samples based on these medium properties. This work may prove useful in biomedicine, for example in noninvasive assessment of epithelial precancer progression. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement