Scattering of light from surfaces with one-dimensional structure calculated by the ray-tracing method

Results of performing a ray trace on randomly rough surfaces are presented. The nonzero terms of the Mueller matrix are calculated and are shown to agree well with experimental results. It is found that, within the limits of validity of the ray-tracing method used, the light scattered at high angles, for normal incidence, contains information on the material of the surface, independent of the roughness of the surface. The behavior of the normalized Mueller matrix terms is then shown to depend on the roughness in such a way that the roughness can be deduced from the values of these parameters. The limit on the roughness for the surface to be considered a single-scattering surface is also calculated. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.