Measuring the Transmission Matrix in Optics: An Approach to the Study and Control of Light Propagation in Disordered Media

Abstract

We introduce a method to experimentally measure the monochromatic transmission matrix of a complex medium in optics. This method is based on a spatial phase modulator together with a full-field interferometric measurement on a camera. We determine the transmission matrix of a thick random scattering sample. We show that this matrix exhibits statistical properties in good agreement with random matrix theory and allows light focusing and imaging through the random medium. This method might give important insight into the mesoscopic properties of a complex medium. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.100601 Received 27 October 2009Revised 11 January 2010Published 8 March 2010© 2010 The American Physical Society