Preserving photon detection and average power in random scattering media and curvature correction in vectorized particle Monte Carlo simulation of focused Gaussian beam

Abstract

We use a vectorized Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of confocal optical microscopy in scattering media to examine the effect of random scattering on the detected photon number N_d. We determine the corresponding number of launched photons N_l needed to obtain the same N_d value as the number of scattering events is increased for the propagating focused Gaussian beam. For different scattering media, the relationship for preserving the average power delivered at the detector plane is derived for N_l, N_d, repetition rate, and pulse width. Photon distributions at various numerical apertures of the focusing lens are analyzed to establish the possible trade-offs of applying curvature correction on the propagating Gaussian beam.