Deducing residual self-interference of inelastic photons in coherent backscattering of intense laser light from two atoms

A coherent backscattering of intense laser light by two isotropic atoms is studied in the helicity preserving polarization channel. It is demonstrated that single scattering has a non-negligible contribution to the background intensity L(θ) at small angles θ with respect to the backwards direction. This contribution can be subtracted from the total signal, and the value of L(0) necessary for evaluating the coherent backscattering enhancement factor - inferred from measurements of the backscattered light intensity beyond the interference peak.