COHERENT PROPERTIES OF OPTICAL-PHASE CONJUGATION IN DISORDERED MEDIA

The question is considered whether phase conjugate backscattering of light in a disordered nonlinear medium possesses the property of restoration of the disturbed signal wave front as it takes place in the ordered case. Examining correlations of the outgoing waves corresponding to different incoming signal waves, it is shown that the backscattered waves possess a "phase memory" even for large differences between incident angles of incoming waves (this is in contrast to the case of linear backscattering where such correlations are absent outside the backscattering peak width). Thus phase conjugation in disordered media does possess the same peculiar coherent properties as in ordered media.