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Largest eigenvalue statistics of wavefront shaping in complex scattering media
Wavefront shaping stands as a paradigm-shifting framework for the coherent control of light, sound, and other waves in complex scattering media, such as biological tissue and disordered materials 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Experimental demonstrations have shown that by precisely tailoring the incident wavefront, the total transmission of microwaves, acoustic, elastic, or optical waves can be dramatically enhanced—or waves can even be tightly focused—through strongly scattering media 1,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19. In optics, this level of precise coherent control over light holds profound implications for imaging 11,20,21,22,23, quantum secure optical authentication 24, high-dimensional quantum optics 25,26,27, optical manipulation 28, photothermal therapy 3,29, microsurgery 30, and optogenetics in complex scattering environments 31,32,33, including biological tissue, ensembles of micro- and nanoparticles, and other seemingly opaque media. The measurement of the transmission matrix—encoding the input-output field relationship of a medium—is essential for controlling the output field via input wavefront shaping 34. Once known, the transmission matrix enables focusing light to single or multiple target positions 1,11,17,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42, or transmitting images through scattering media 43. In particular, simultaneous focusing on multiple positions has important applications in optical metrology 37, optical trapping of microparticles 28, programmable multiport optical circuits 25,26,27, and focusing on extended guide stars 32,33,36,44. A key metric for evaluating the...