Discrimination of surface and bulk scattering of arbitrary level based on angle-resolved ellipsometry: Theoretical analysis

An experimental procedure, which was found to be valid for both low-level and high-level scattering of random media, was recently shown to directly discriminate between surface and bulk scattering origin [O. Gilbert, C. Deumie, C. Amra, Angle-resolved ellipsometry of scattering patterns from arbitrary surfaces and bulk materials, Opt. Express 13 (2005) 2403]. The method is based on the ellipsometric measurement of the scattered field over the scattering angle and the analysis of the obtained relative phase shift between s and p polarizations. In the case of low-level scattering, the results were already known and have been explained by first order electromagnetic theories. However, information detailing high-level scattering is scarce. Using rigorous electromagnetic theory, we examined high-level scattering. The differential method enabled us to validate the experimental observations of Gilbert et al. (2005) and explore the limits of validity of the discrimination technique.