Second-Harmonic Imaging in Random Media

Abstract

We consider the problem of optical imaging of small nonlinear scatterers in random media. We propose an extension of coherent interferometric imaging (CINT) that applies to scatterers that emit second-harmonic light. We compare this method to a nonlinear version of migration imaging and find that the images obtained by CINT are more robust to statistical fluctuations. This finding is supported by a resolution analysis that is carried out in the setting of geometrical optics in random media. It is also consistent with numerical simulations for which the assumptions of the geometrical optics model do not hold.