STATISTICS OF THE POLARIZATION PROPERTIES OF ONE-DIMENSIONAL RANDOMLYROUGH SURFACES

A study of the statistics of the polarization properties of one-dimens ional randomly rough surfaces is presented. Based on the assumption th at the s and p components of the electric-field vector constitute corr elated circular complex Gaussian processes, some first-order statistic al properties of the polarization of scattered fields are first establ ished. In particular, results are presented for the probability densit y function of the Stokes parameters and their correlations. For each r ealization of the surface the random Mueller matrix elements associate d with the surface may be determined from measurements of the Stokes p arameters of the scattered light. Choosing a +45 degrees linear polari zation for the incident field, one is then able to study the statistic s of the Mueller matrix elements. Numerical and experimental data on t he statistics of the Mueller matrix elements are presented and compare d with theoretical results. Finally, the usefulness and the significan ce of the results are illustrated with some examples. (C) 1995 Optical Society of America