ENHANCED BACKSCATTERING FROM A ONE-DIMENSIONAL ROUGH DIELECTRIC FILM ON A GLASS SUBSTRATE

We have observed the enhanced backscattering of light from a character ized dielectric film deposited upon a glass substrate when the light i lluminates the rough surface from the vacuum. The vacuum-dielectric in terface is one dimensional, randomly rough, while the dielectric-glass interface is approximately planar. Numerical and experimental studies reveal that the main mechanism responsible for the enhanced backscatt ering is the constructive interference between two waves that follow r eciprocal scattering paths through the dielectric film, which is also strengthened by the multiple scattering from the rough vacuum-dielectr ic interface.