# 3D spatially-resolved optical energy density enhanced by wavefront shaping

## TL;DR

This study demonstrates that wavefront shaping can significantly enhance the 3D spatial distribution of optical energy density in scattering media, with up to 26-fold increase at the back surface, impacting various optical applications.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel 3D measurement method and a model to analyze energy density enhancement via wavefront shaping in scattering media.

## Key findings

- Energy density is enhanced up to 26X at the back surface.
- Energy density varies strongly with transverse position.
- A new 3D model accurately predicts the observed enhancements.

## Abstract

We study the three-dimensional (3D) spatially-resolved distribution of the energy density of light in a 3D scattering medium upon the excitation of open transmission channels. The open transmission channels are excited by spatially shaping the incident optical wavefronts. To probe the local energy density, we excite isolated fluorescent nanospheres distributed inside the medium. From the spatial fluorescent intensity pattern we obtain the position of each nanosphere, while the total fluorescent intensity gauges the energy density. Our 3D spatially-resolved measurements reveal that the local energy density versus depth (z) is enhanced up to 26X at the back surface of the medium, while it strongly depends on the transverse (x; y) position. We successfully interpret our results with a newly developed 3D model that considers the time-reversed diffusion starting from a point source at the back surface. Our results are relevant for white LEDs, random lasers, solar cells, and biomedical optics.