Effect of the Photon's Brownian Doppler Shift on the Weak-Localization Coherent-Backscattering Cone

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how the Brownian motion of scatterers affects the frequency-dependent shape of the coherent-backscattering cone, revealing a narrowing effect at the spectrum's tail, supported by experimental data and a theoretical model.

Contribution

First experimental observation of the photon Doppler shift's impact on the CBS cone shape in a diffusing medium, linking motion-induced frequency shifts to coherent backscattering.

Findings

CBS cone narrows at the spectrum's tail due to Brownian motion

Experimental results align with the theoretical model

Heterodyne detection effectively measures backscattered photon properties

Abstract

We report the first observation of the dependence of the coherent-backscattering (CBS) enhanced cone with the frequency of the backscattered photon. The experiment is performed on a diffusing liquid suspension and the Doppler broadening of light is induced by the Brownian motion of the scatterers. Heterodyne detection on a CCD camera is used to measure the complex field (i.e., the hologram) of the light that is backscattered at a given frequency. The analysis of the holograms yield the frequency and the propagation direction of the backscattered photons. We observe that the angular CBS cone becomes more narrow in the tail of the Brownian spectrum. The experimental results are in good agreement with a simple theoretical model.