PHASE FLUCTUATIONS OF A WAVE REFLECTED FR OM A PHASE-CONJUGATING MIRROR IN A RANDOMLY INHOMOGENEOUS ABSORBING MEDIUM

Statistical phase characteristics of a ranging electromagnetic wave pr opagating along a measured path with a phase-conjugating mirror in a m edium characterized with random variations of complex permittivity eps ilon. The expressions for the mean and the variance of plane-wave phas e fluctuations are obtained. It is shown that the phase-conjugating mi rror fails to compensate for the phase fluctuations caused by random v ariations of the imaginary component of epsilon. The conditions for ap pearance of enhanced backscattering with respect to the mean phase val ue and the variance of phase fluctuations of the reflected wave in a r andomly inhomogeneous absorbing medium are derived.