Transverse confinement of waves in 3D random media

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a focused beam transmits through a 3D disordered medium in the Anderson localized regime, revealing that the transverse profile indicates localization and can measure the localization length, unaffected by absorption for short pulses.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the transverse profile of transmitted waves in 3D localized media directly reveals Anderson localization and allows measurement of the localization length.

Findings

Transverse profile shows clear signatures of Anderson localization.

Mean square width of transmitted beam measures localization length.

Width is independent of absorption for short pulses.

Abstract

We study the transmission of a tightly focused beam through a thick slab of 3D disordered medium in the Anderson localized regime. We show that the transverse profile of the transmitted beam exhibits clear signatures of Anderson localization and that its mean square width provides a direct measure of the localization length. For a short incident pulse, the width is independent of absorption.