Brightness of a phase-conjugating mirror behind a random medium

TL;DR

This paper develops a random-matrix theory to analyze how a phase-conjugating mirror affects light reflection in a disordered medium, revealing two regimes with distinct behaviors that can be experimentally tested.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical framework for understanding light reflection involving phase-conjugating mirrors behind random media, distinguishing two regimes based on photon dwell time and frequency shift.

Findings

Two regimes identified with different reflectance behaviors

Dependence of reflectance on disorder varies between regimes

Proposes an experimental test for phase shift cancellation

Abstract

A random-matrix theory is presented for the reflection of light by a disordered medium backed by a phase-conjugating mirror. Two regimes are distinguished, depending on the relative magnitude of the inverse dwell time of a photon in the disordered medium and the frequency shift acquired at the mirror. The qualitatively different dependence of the reflectance on the degree of disorder in the two regimes suggests a distinctive experimental test for cancellation of phase shifts in a random medium.