Transmission matrix measurement of a single Mie scatterer

TL;DR

This paper measures the polarization-complete transmission matrix of a single dielectric sphere, validating Mie theory and providing a benchmark for angle-resolved transmission matrix measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a method to accurately measure and compare the transmission matrix of a single scatterer with microscopic theories, specifically Mie theory.

Findings

Transmission matrix closely follows Mie theory.

Provides a calibrated benchmark for angle-resolved measurements.

Enables quantitative characterization of spherical scatterers.

Abstract

Transmission matrices are valuable tools to describe and control light transport through scattering media. There are only a few cases where the transmission matrix can be compared to microscopic theories. Here we measure the polarization-complete transmission matrix of a single dielectric sphere using off-axis holography with angle scanning and reconstruct complex fields in both transmission and reflection under circular polarization. After aberration correction and angular mapping, the scattering amplitude extracted from the transmission matrix closely follows Mie theory. This work provides a calibrated benchmark for angle-resolved transmission matrix measurement and enables quantitative characterization of spherical and quasi-spherical scatterers.