Calculation of all elements of the Mueller matrix for scattering of light from a two-dimensional randomly rough metal surface

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive numerical method to compute all polarization properties of light scattered from rough metal surfaces, enhancing interpretation and design of polarization effects.

Contribution

It introduces a nonperturbative numerical approach to calculate the full Mueller matrix for scattering from two-dimensional rough metal surfaces at arbitrary angles.

Findings

All elements of the Mueller matrix can be computed for rough metal surfaces.

The method applies to arbitrary angles of incidence.

It improves modeling of polarization effects in light scattering.

Abstract

We calculate all the elements of the Mueller matrix, which contains all the polarization properties of light scattered from a two-dimensional randomly rough lossy metal surface. The calculations are carried out for arbitrary angles of incidence by the use of nonperturbative numerical solutions of the reduced Rayleigh equations for the scattering of p- and s-polarized light from a two-dimensional rough penetrable surface. The ability to model polarization effects in light scattering from surfaces enables better interpretation of experimental data and allows for the design of surfaces which possess useful polarization effects.