Experimental determination of the effective refractive index in strongly scattering media

Measurements of the angular-resolved-optical transmission through strongly scattering samples of porous gallium phosphide are described. Currently porous GaP is the strongest-scattering material for visible light. From these measurements the effective refractive index and the average reflectivity at the sample interface can be obtained. These parameters are of great importance for an accurate interpretation of optical experiments, and are for the first time determined in strongly scattering samples. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.