Proceedings Article | 20 August 2010
Proc. SPIE. 7792, Reflection, Scattering, and Diffraction from Surfaces II
KEYWORDS: Diffraction, Mueller matrices, Scattering, Matrices, Silicon, Light scattering, Laser scattering, Polarimetry, Transmittance, Polysomnography
A set of light-scattering results is presented in the form of Mueller Matrices (MM) and their corresponding Polar
Decomposition (PD) parameters. The system under analysis is a square microstructure on a flat substrate, in the form of
either a rib or a groove (or several equally spaced, depending on the experiment). As it is well known, MM contains all
information, and many works have been carried out trying to connect its properties with those of the scattering system.
However, this is not as intuitive as the analysis allowed by other presentations of the results, based on the decomposition
of MM matrix in a set of matrices, each representing the action of a particular (non-real) element, and acting sequentially
on the incident beam. Our analysis is a quite conventional application of the Polar Decomposition. The resulting
parameters reveal, for instance, that the substrate plays an important role in the origin of the depolarization. Concerning
the polar components the main analysis is performed by means of the conventional diattenuation and retardance
parameters. The number and position of the discontinuities in the retardation parameter is associated to the size of the
defect. This, of course, can be also concluded from the observation of m00 element oscillations, but in the case of the PD
retardation parameter it is possible to connect the geometrical shape of the scattering element (rib or groove) to a single
condition established for the PD parameters.
