The study of the interaction of polarized light with biological materials such as human tissue has
applications in medical diagnosis and medicine. Polarized light that is reflected or transmitted
through biological specimens can also be used to detect and identify biological and chemical
threat agents. The determination of the silent foot prints of the chiral properties of the biological
materials on scattered polarized light, is the basis for these investigations. The polarization states
of electromagnetic waves which in general are elliptical, are represented by its Stokes vector.
Scattered light is completely characterized by the 4 x 4 Mueller matrix that relates the scattered
Stokes vector to the incident Stokes vector. It is of primary importance to identify which of the
sixteen elements of the Mueller matrix for reflected and for transmitted light are most sensitive
to the chiral properties of the biological materials. The explicit analytical dependence of these
specific elements of the Mueller matrix, upon the angles of incidence and scatter, upon the
wavelength and upon the type of chirality has the potential to provide experimentalists with
guidance in determining the optimum use of optical polarimetric scatterometers to detect and
identify biological materials through their chiral properties.
A detailed description of an optical polarimetric scatterometer, its capabilities, and special application are presented. This instrument measures the 4×4 Mueller matrix elements as well as bidirectional reflective distribution functions (scatter cross sections) for light that is scattered from a target. Incident polarized light at wavelengths =0.6328 and =1.06 µm can be directed toward the target in an arbitrary direction. The receiver can be located anywhere in the solid angle 4. Backscatter measurements, most commonly used in remote sensing, can also be obtained. The scatterometer has been used to validate different analytical/numerical solutions to a broad class of electromagnetic scattering problems, in controlled laboratory experiments. The optical constants of liquids and solids can be determined by relating the Mueller matrix elements to the ellipsometric parameters. Recently, the relationships between the Mueller matrix elements and the parameters related to the optical activity have been derived. Thus, the scatterometer has the potential to detect, identify, and characterize optical rotation and circular dichroism of biological and chemical materials that possess chiral properties. These relationships are based on depolarization of waves reflected and transmitted through optically active media. Only the eight quasi off-diagonal elements of the Mueller matrix are sensitive to optical activity.
The determination of soil moisture content is often based on the measurements of the ratio of
the vertically and horizontally polarized cross sections for large angles of incidence, where
the cross sections could be significantly different. Using the high frequency, physical optics
model of the earth's surface, this ratio depends primarily on the Fresnel reflection
coefficients for the two polarizations, while the impact of surface roughness factors out of the
cross section ratio. Thus for highly conducting moisture saturated soils, this ratio approaches
one. Using the low frequency, small height-small slope perturbation model of the earth's
surface, the vertically and horizontally polarized cross sections are critically dependent on
polarization for large angles of incidence, even for the perfectly conducting rough surfaces.
However using the standard perturbation model, the ratios of the cross sections are also
independent of the surface roughness. Applying the small perturbation approach to highly
conducting rough surfaces, the ratio of the horizontally to vertically polarized cross sections
approaches zero for grazing angles of incidence, for which the two cross sections differ
significantly. There is ample experimental evidence that neither the physical optics nor the
small perturbation models are adequate.
The standard hybrid two scale physical optics-perturbation approach depends critically upon
the decomposition of the composite surface into smaller and larger scale surfaces. The
smaller scale surface is restricted to small Rayleigh roughness parameters, proportional to the
mean square height, and the larger scale surface is restricted by the large radii of curvature
criteria.
Using a two scale full wave approach, the cross section are expressed as a weighted sum of a
physical optics cross section for the larger scale surface, reduced by a factor equal to the
square of the small scale surface characteristic function, and a cross section for the smaller
scale surface that is modulated by the slopes of the larger scale surface. A variation technique
is used to decompose the surface height spectral density function in a continuous, smooth
manner into spectral density functions for the larger and smaller scale surfaces. It is shown
that the corresponding polarization dependent rough surface cross sections are stationary
over a wide range of the variation parameters. The ratio of the cross sections are dependent
of the surface roughness, since the horizontally polarized cross sections are significantly
dependent on modulation by the slopes of the larger scale surfaces, for large angles of
incidence.
Realizable artificial medium with negative permittivity,
permeability and refractive index are fabricated by
introducing inclusions significantly smaller than the
wavelengths of excitation into an archival host medium.
Negative refractive index media normally posses a small
degree of chirality associated with the split-rings. However
in order to enhance the chirality of the artificial media, the
split rings can be replaced by spirals.
Recent work has shown that well controlled chiral media
can be fabricated using available semiconductor techniques
that have been modified to produce these structures.
Specifically the glancing angle deposition technique
(GLAD) has been shown to be well suited to producing
these types of chiral structures.
Novel devices made from metamaterials that also possess
chirality are considered. When chiral properties are
included in a negative refractive index slab, with n = -1,
two rays are refracted in the slab. The distance between the
two corresponding focal lines is determined by the
magnitude of the chiral parameter. Thus this negative
refractive index lens can also be used to measure the chiral
parameter. At the focal lines small cross polarized
components also exist.
Based on the complete model expansion of the field at the
chiral-chiral (or free space-chiral) interface it is shown that
line sources also excite several species of lateral waves that
are associated with total internal reflection. Since the
refractive index is assumed to be negative, rays incident
upon the chiral slab at the critical angles for total internal
reflection, θ1 and θ2, are refracted parallel to the interface
in the backward direction, resulting in θR1 and θL1 equal to -90°. Thus the image and the source are on the same
side of the negative refractive index chiral slab and the
device behaves like a reflector.
Inclusions embedded in conventional positive refractive index materials are used to fabricate artificial materials, with negative permittivity, permeability and negative refractive index (NRI). We consider electromagnetic wave propagation in NRI materials with chiral properties that are not negligible. To this end we initially derive explicit expressions for reflection and transmission matrices for a chiral slab. The diagonal terms of the linearly polarized reflection coefficient matrix are the familiar Fresnel reflection coefficients, and the off-diagonal, cross-polarized reflection coefficients are proportional to the chiral parameter and the product of the vertically and horizontally polarized transmission coefficients of the non-chiral host medium. The-full wave modal expansion of the fields include evanescent and propagating radiation fields, several types of lateral waves associated with the phenomena of total internal "backward" reflection as well as several different surface waves (plasmons). Using NRI materials with chiral properties it is possible to fabricate rectangular slabs that perform as lenses associated with two focal lines at the opposite side of the source. Furthermore, the backward propagating lateral waves could be used to make the chiral metamaterials perform like reflectors.
Explicit expressions are derived for the like and cross linear polarized reflection and transmission
coefficients in terms of the chiral parameter. Taylor series expansions of these coefficients are
derived. The diagonal like polarized reflection and transmission coefficients are insensitive to the
chiral properties of the material while the off diagonal cross polarized terms are proportional to the
chiral parameter to first order. Continuity relations in and perpendicular to the plane of incidence
for vertically and horizontally like and cross polarized waves, energy conservation and duality
relations at a free space-chiral interface are satisfied. Applications for the optimal detection and
identification of chiral materials such as drugs and biological or chemical threat agents are
considered.
Since biological materials possess some degree of chirality a full wave solution for the scattering of electromagnetic waves (including optical and infra-red wavelengths) at an irregular interface between free space and a chiral medium is derived. To this and the electromagnetic fields are expressed in terms of Generalized Fourier Transforms. These transforms provide the basis for converting Maxwells equations, together with the associated exact boundary conditions, into Gneralized Telegraphists' Equations for irregular stratified media. Scattered near fields as well as far fields can be obtained from the solutions for the Generalized Telegraphists equations. The Mueller elements are related to the linear like and cross polarized far field scattering matrix.
All sixteen Mueller Matrix elements of Bio-Medical Materials are examined. Special attention is given to the eight quasi off diagonal elements of the Mueller Matrix in order to examine the feasibility for detection and identification of bio-medical materials. The specific impact of chirality on the Mueller Matrix elements is analyzed. It is shown that (to within first order of the chirality parameter) only the eight quasi off diagonal elements of the Mueller Matrix are effected by the chiral property of the bio-medical materials. This reinforces the experimental observation from previous scattering experiments that the quasi off diagonal Mueller Matrix elements could provide a basis for bio-medical detection and identification. The analysis provides the explicit relationship between the quasi off diagonal elements and the degree of chirality of the bio-medical materials.
Full wave expression for the electromagnetic fields scattered by a rough interface between two chiral materials with laterally varying electromagnetic properties are obtained from generalized telegraphists equation for irregular media. The telegraphists equation are a set of coupled differential equations for the forward and backward wave amplitudes of the transverse components of the magnetic field and the electric field. They can be used to determine the electromagnetic near and far fields scattered above and below the interface. This has direct applications to the detection of chiral materials, the discrimination between different chiral media and the optimization of desired electromagnetic characteristics of artificial chiral materials.
To derive the generalized telegraphists equations, no simplfying assumptions are made about the characteristics of the rough interface, the frequency of the source, or the locations of the source and observation points. Therefore, they provide advantageous starting points for deriving solutions to a broad variety of physical problems. In electrical engineering possible applications include integrated optic devices, polarization transformers, modulators and directional couplers. In all these applications, sub-wavelength fluctuations at the interfaces between the media can significantly affect the physical characteristics of the chiral structure. The analysis can be used in the detection, characterization and design of chiral structures consisting of complex media with engineering, biomedical, agricultural and biosecurity applications.
The procedure followed in analyzing electromagnetic scattering by irregular layered structures, in which the heights of the interfaces as well as the medium parameters fluctuate laterally, is such that all the simplifying assumptions introduced in order to make the rigorous solutions to the problems more tractable, are made a posteriori rather than a prior. In this way the same analysis can be used to obtian the high frequency physical optics solutions that can be applied to structures with scales of roughness that are much larger than the wavelength as well as to obtain the low frequency small perturbation type solutions for structures with scales of roughness without introducing a wavelength. Thus this analysis can be applied to multiple scale structures without introducing an artificial scale parameter that dictates the solution to the problem. In addition the same analysis can be used to obtain the far field approximations suitable for structures with scales of roughness comparable and larger than the wavelength, as well as to obtain the near field approximations that are suitable for structures with subwavelength scales. The analysis accounts for evanescent as well as propagating waves, the lateral waves and the guided, surface waves of the irregular structures. To this end, a full wave approach that is based on the complete expansion of the fields as well as the imposition of exact boundary conditions at the rough interfaces is used in the analysis. Since these complete fields expansions do not necessarily converge uniformly at the irregular interface, careful mathematical procedures must be followed. It is shown that using the far field approximations, the solutions for the scattered fields are expressed as integrals over the spatial variables. On the other hand when the near field approximations are used, the scattered fields are expressed as integrals over the wave vector variables. This fulll wave analysis can also be applied to anisotropic media such as chiral materials.
The circularly polarized wave decomposition of Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic wave propagation in chiral materials is the starting point for this analysis. The Fourier transforms of the Green's functions for the electromagnetic waves on both sides of a flat interface between two semi-infinite chiral materials are derived. These harmonic solutions are expressed in terms of the characteristic right and left circularly polarized waves. Through a path deformation in the complex plane, the Green's functions are converted into alternate, modal, representations that are suitable for the complete expansion of the electromagnetic fields above and below a rough interface between two chiral materials with laterally varying material properties. From these representations, generalized Fourier teransform pairs are derived. The generalized Fourier transforms can be used to obtain two sets of coupled ordinary differential equations for the field transforms in terms of the forward and backward wave amplitudes of the transverse fields. Iterative solutions of these generalized telegraphists equations are found. From these solutions the fields can be found under appropriate assumptions. Since no a priori assumptions are made about the surface height, the frequency of the source, or the material parameter this work could be applied to nanotechnology involving stratified chiral structures.
The scattered electromagnetic near fields due to fluctuations in the surface height and/or lateral variations in the electromagnetic medium parameters are evaluated using a full wave approach. Since the scales of the height and medium fluctuations considered could be significantly smaller or larger than the electromagnetic wavelengths, the familiar perturbation and physical/geometrical optics solutions cannot be used nor is it possible to investigate sub-wavelength features based on far-field measurements. The full wave approach employs complete field expansion that include propagating and evanescent waves as well as lateral waves and surface waves. The lateral waves and surface waves are not accounted for in the perturbation and physical optics solutions. Unlike the physical optics and small perturbation approach, exact boundary conditions for the electric and magnetic fields are imposed at the rough interfaces. For irregular layered media the complete field expansions are associated with propagating and evanescent waves, the lateral wave term and surfaces waves guided by the stratified structure. The interfaces between the irregular stratified structures are not characterized by the approximate impedance boundary conditions. The modal expansions while complete, do not individually satisfy the correct boundary conditions, and they do not uniformly coverage the irregular boundaries, therefore term by term differentiation of the field expansions is avoided.
The full wave approach is applied to one and two dimensionally rough surfaces that are characterized by Gaussian surface height probability density functions. The full wave solutions are compared with published analytical and numerical solutions for one dimensional rough surfaces. The decomposition of the rough surface into smaller and larger rough scale surfaces is not restricted by the small perturbation limitations when the two-scale full wave approach is used. Thus the mean square height of the smaller scale surface is not restricted to small values. In the small slope limit, the total rough surface is regarded as a small scale surface and the corresponding solution is given by the single scatter original full wave solution. In the high frequency limit, the total rough surface is regarded as a large scale surface and the full wave solution reduces to the physical optics solution. For the intermediate two-scale case, the radar cross sections are obtained by regarding the rough surface as an ensemble of arbitrarily oriented patches of small scale surfaces that ride upon the large scale surface. The rough surface radar cross sections are expressed as weighted sums of two cross sections. It is shown that the full wave solutions are stationary over a wide range of patch sizes.
The like and cross polarized single and double scattered fields are derived using a full wave approach. This approach is based on the complete expansion of the electromagnetic fields, the imposition of exact boundary conditions and the conversion of Maxwell's equations into generalized telegraphists equations for the scattered wave amplitudes. Thus, the zero order iterative solutions for the generalized telegraphists equations yield the primary electromagnetic (source) fields impressed upon the rough surface. The first and second order iterative solutions to the generalized telegropherts' equations yield the single and double scattered fields. This can be clearly demonstrated by taking the geometric optics limit of the full wave solutions. To obtain the corresponding like and cross polarized scatter cross sections, as in the case of scattering from one dimensional rough surfaces, it is necessary to account for contributions from the quasi parallel double scatter paths as well as the quasi antiparallel double scatter paths. However, for scattering from two dimensional rough surfaces, these paths are not restricted to the plane of incidence. The full wave solutions for the double scattered fields are expressed as six dimensional integrals, that account for the complete wave spectra of scattered fields and the coordinate variables at a pair of points on the rough surface. These expressions are used to obtain the multidimensional integrals for the like and cross polarized cross sections. To make these solutions tractable for computational purposes, a high frequency approximation of the full wave double scatter cross sections are expressed as four dimensional integrals involving scatter wave vector variables. These results can be evaluated in significantly less time than standard numerical solutions of the integral equations. Moreover, the physical interpretation of the results shed light on the impact, of different statistical parameters of the random rough surfaces, upon the backscatter enhancement.
A full wave approach is developed to analyze the scattered electromagnetic fields due to fluctuations in the surface height and/or electromagnetic medium parameters such as the complex electric permittivity, conductivity, and magnetic permeability. Since the scales of the medium fluctuations considered could be significantly smaller or larger than the electromagnetic wavelengths, the familiar perturbation and physical/geometrical optics techniques based on the Kirckhoff approximations of the fields on the boundaries cannot be used nor is it possible to investigate sub- wavelength structures based on far-field measurements.
Detection of mines buried in irregular stratified media is significantly complicated by the presence of signal clutter due to scattering from the rough interfaces of the layered structure. Full wave solutions have been derived for the electromagnetic fields scattered by the two rough surfaces in a realistic physical model of the three media environment of the mines. They account for five different scattering mechanisms that the waves undergo, assuming that both the transmitter and receiver are above the uppermost interface of the irregular media. Two scattering mechanisms are associated with reflection from above and below the upper interface and two are associated with transmission across the upper interface, the fifth is associated with reflection from above the lower interface. In view of the fact that in general the two rough interfaces are characterized by independent random rough surface heights (except where the thickness of the intermediate medium vanishes) the rough surface height joint probability density functions are characterized by a family of probability density functions associated with the gamma functions. Multiple bounces between the two interfaces are accounted for in the analysis. The elements of the incoherent Mueller matrix (that relates the scattered fields to incident Stokes vectors) are obtained from the expressions for the scattered fields. From the simulated data it is possible to determine the optimal polarizations and the incident and scatter angles of the waves as well as the wavelength, for purposes of suppressing the impact of the clutter on the detection of buried objects.
For industrial and weather forecasting purposes it is often necessary to employ electromagnetic waves (optical to microwave wavelengths) to remotely sense manmade or naturally generated rough surfaces. These surfaces are generally anisotropic and contain multiple scales of roughness. For example sheet metal used in industrial applications are usually sandblasted before painting, while rough sea surfaces with swell are generated by fully developed local winds as well as high intensity winds from more remote sources. Several hybrid analytical techniques based on small perturbation and physical/geometrical optics approaches have been used to determine the scatter cross sections for these multiple scale anisotropic models of rough surfaces. However, these hybrid solutions critically depend on the choices of the spatial wave numbers where spectral splitting is assumed between the different scales of rough surfaces. Fully polarimetric unified full wave solutions have been derived for the scattered fields from these multiple scale anisotropic models of rough surfaces. The rough surfaces are regarded as large (compared to correlation length) patches of rough surfaces with arbitrary orientations and the scattering cross sections are shown to be stationary over a wide range of patch (pixel) sizes. Unlike the perturbation solution the full wave solutions are invariant to coordinate transformations (translations and rotations) and are not restricted to surfaces with small mean square heights (compared to wavelength).
The full wave solution for scattering from 2D irregular layered structures is expressed a sum of the radiation fields, the lateral waves, and the surface waves. Only the radiation far fields are considered in this work, since excitations of plane waves are considered and the observation points are in the far field region. The like and cross polarized diffuse scattered fields are derived for three medium irregular structures with 2D rough interfaces. The thickness of the coating material or thin film between the two interfaces is assumed to be constant. Thus in this case both interfaces are rough and there are five different scattering processes identified in the full wave results. The full wave diffuse scatter solutions reduce to the perturbation solution when the surface rms heights and slopes are very small and of the same order of smallness. When the surface radii of curvature and rms heights ar very large the full wave scatter solutions reduce to the physical optics solutions. The polarimetric solutions can be applied to remote sensing of dielectric coating materials on rough surfaces.
The Mueller matrix completely characterizes scattered electromagnetic waves. It relates the incident to the scattered Stokes vectors. The Mueller matrix which contains intensity and relative phase data is very useful for remote sensing. The Mueller matrix , characterizing scattering from uniformly coated 2D random rough surfaces are assumed to be homogeneous, and isotropic with a Gaussian surface height joint probability density function. The diffuse, incoherent and coherent contributions to the Mueller matrix elements are evaluated. The Mueller matrix elements are more sensitive to the changes in the rms slope than to changes in the rms height. The element M34 equals M43 is most sensitive to variations in the thickness of the coating layer. This result could be used to estimate the thickness of the coating material. The magnitudes of the Mueller matrix elements are considerably more sensitive to changes in dissipation in the coating material than to changes in dissipation of the substrate.
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