Measuring large optical reflection matrices of turbid media

We report the measurement of a large optical reflection matrix (RM) of a highly disordered medium. Incident optical fields onto a turbid sample are controlled by a spatial light modulator, and the corresponding fields reflected from the sample are measured using full-field Michelson interferometry. The number of modes in the measured RM is set to exceed the number of resolvable modes in the scattering media. We successfully study the subtle intrinsic correlations in the RM which agrees with the theoretical prediction by the random-matrix theory when the effect of the limited numerical aperture on the eigenvalue distribution of the RM is taken into account. The possibility of the enhanced delivery of incident energy into scattering media is also examined from the eigenvalue distribution which promises efficient light therapeutic applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.