Coherent control of total transmission of light through disordered media

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how wavefront shaping can coherently control light transmission through disordered media, supported by a theoretical model and numerical simulations that reveal the influence of illumination area and correlations.

Contribution

It introduces a random matrix theory-based model to explain the impact of finite illumination on maximum transmission, validated by simulations and experiments.

Findings

Wavefront shaping achieves order-of-magnitude control of total transmission.

The model predicts the role of long-range correlations in transmission.

Numerical simulations confirm the theoretical predictions.

Abstract

We demonstrate order of magnitude coherent control of total transmission of light through random media by shaping the wavefront of the input light. To understand how the finite illumination area on a wide slab affects the maximum values of total transmission, we develop a model based on random matrix theory that reveals the role of long-range correlations. Its predictions are confirmed by numerical simulations and provide physical insight into the experimental results.