LAUSR

Abstract Within the accuracy of the first-order Born approximation, the scattering of plane waves from two kinds of superimposed media, i.e. a semi-hard boundary medium and a multi Gaussian-Schell model medium, are investigated comparatively. The far-zone spectral density analytical expressions for the plane waves scattered from the two kinds of superimposed media are derived and used to investigate their statistical optical properties. Numerical results demonstrate that the distribution of scattered spectral density is closely related with the summation index of the scattering medium, the effective radius of the scattering medium, and the correlation length of the correlation function of the scattering potential. It is worthy pointed that, for the semi-hard boundary medium the scattered spectral would appear several interference fringes, while for the multi Gaussian-Schell model medium there would not have any interference fringes at all. These features of the scattered spectrum could be used to deduce the structure information of the scattering medium.