Monte Carlo simulation of the interaction between an ultra-short pulse and a strongly scattering medium:: The case of large particles

Simulations of the transmission of a short light pulse (50 fs) through a strongly scattering medium constituted by water droplets (50-150 mu m diameter) are presented. Temporal emerging signals are computed using a Monte Carlo technique. In case of large particles with respect to the pulse duration, the time delay related to the interaction between light and individual particles has to be taken into account, in addition to the time delay related to the travel of light between particles. After careful comparisons with temporal Lorenz-Mie theory, it has been chosen to pre-calculate scattering characteristics of individual droplets using Debye series. Transmitted signals in forward direction and in a small temporal window (0-400 fs) are presented, showing that temporal information on particle size are still observable facing strongly scattering media. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.