Polarization-Resolved Speckle Correlations in Scattering Birefringent Films

In this work, we experimentally investigate the polarization-resolved speckle cross-correlations in scattering birefringent films fabricated from liquid crystal elastomers (LCE). The order-induced optical birefringence in fabricated samples was confirmed from polarized microscope images of aligned and random LCE films. Thereafter, a comparative evaluation of speckle cross-correlations was performed for a ground glass, random LCE, and aligned LCE films. We find that the polarization information in the speckle correlations is completely lost in random LCE film, while the aligned LCE film preserves partial correlations. Our findings may pave the way for biomedical applications, sensing, and imaging microscopy.