Abstract

In this work we review and—to some extent—upgrade one of the main theories of light flux through homogeneous isotropic media, namely, the Kubelka–Munk (K–M) theory, and in particular the later expansion made by Kubelka to obtain the reflectance of a specimen when a substrate lies underneath. We have completed this solution by calculating the transverse energy density in the specimen and the transmission of the whole. We show that this last result—compatible with Kubelka’s upgrade for layered media—also allows for the calculation of the specimen/substrate absorption split. In order to validate these expressions, the results were reproduced by means of a Monte Carlo simulation working on a layered medium under the same assumptions as the K–M theory. Interestingly, the numerical procedure introduces new capabilities in the model regarding the history of any absorbed or outgoing elemental light beam, such as the recording of its time-of-flight through a given system.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

Revised Kubelka–Munk theory. I. Theory and application

Li Yang and Björn Kruse
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 21(10) 1933-1941 (2004)

Extension of the Kubelka–Munk theory for fluorescent turbid media to a nonopaque layer on a background

Lionel Simonot, Mathieu Thoury, and John Delaney
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 28(7) 1349-1357 (2011)

Revised Kubelka–Munk theory. II. Unified framework for homogeneous and inhomogeneous optical media

Li Yang, Björn Kruse, and Stanley J. Miklavcic
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 21(10) 1942-1952 (2004)

Deriving Kubelka–Munk theory from radiative transport

Christopher Sandoval and Arnold D. Kim
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 31(3) 628-636 (2014)

Examination of the revised Kubelka-Munk theory: considerations of modeling strategies

Per Edström
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 24(2) 548-556 (2007)