Circular Polarization and Coherent Backscattering

Abstract

We extend the work of Mishchenko et al. (2000) regarding the exact results of the polarization effect, using the theory of Amic et al. (1997) to derive a model prediction for the polarization coherent opposition effect at small angles. Our extension is to assess the effect of circular polarized light, thus completing exact derivation of the full M\"uller matrix for the semi infinite slab of Rayleigh sized particles. We find the circular polarization peak is narrower than the coherent backscattering intensity peak, and weaker in intensity.