Quantitative analysis of depolarization of backscattered light by stochastically inhomogeneous dielectric particles.

We determine the relationship between the depolarization properties of inhomogeneous particles and the statistical parameters of their internal refractive-index distributions. Our analysis demonstrates that the linear depolarization ratio of backscattered light by an inhomogeneous particle is approximately proportional to both the squared standard deviation and the squared correlation length of the particle's internal refractive-index distribution. We verify this result by conducting rigorous numerical studies using the finite-difference time-domain method. This improved understanding of light depolarization by inhomogeneous structures may enhance polarization-based biomedical optical imaging techniques.