Polarization characteristics of He-Ne laser radiation reflected by leaves

It is shown that the largest differences in the angular distribution and meanings of the polarization characteristics of radiation reflected by different plant's leaves are observed for leaves illuminated at the angle of 55 degrees by a He-Ne laser radiation ((lambda) equals 0.63 micrometer) linearly polarized in the plane of incidence. It has been revealed that radiation reflected by a leaf becomes elliptically polarized at observation angles of 55 degrees plus or minus 10 degrees. The ellipticity of radiation reflected by leaves depends on the leaf thickness and the position of the top or bottom of the leaf surface relative to the direction of illumination.