Characterization of the Optical Properties of Photoluminescent Turbid Media Using an Integrating Sphere and Monte Carlo Simulations

In this paper, we report on the measurement of the optical properties (absorption and scattering coefficients) of photoluminescent turbid media using a homemade integrating sphere setup equipped with a tunable monochromatic light source. The hemispherical reflectance and transmission data are analyzed with the radiative transfer equation using a Monte Carlo simulation-based lookup table to obtain the optical properties of the sample. The results are compared with the optical properties received from a classical integrating sphere setup equipped with a broadband white light source. The additional light of the photoluminescence generates artifacts within the optical properties, which are not present using a monochromatic light source. Additionally, a batch of samples with a broad range of scattering coefficients and dye concentrations were prepared and characterized with the aforementioned setup. The findings can help to generate a digital twin with the optical properties of the sample, which improves the physically based rendering and the design of, e.g., white-light LEDs. Dental restoration and photodynamic therapy also benefit from determination of the optical properties of photoluminescent turbid media.