Focusing light through scattering media by combining genetic and Gauss–Newton algorithms

Owing to the highly heterogeneous distributions of the components of disordered materials, light transport in such media experiences multiple light scattering. Focusing light through strongly scattering media is a significant goal in optical communication and imaging. However, a very challenging problem in such a process is the precise optimization of input wavefront, which influences the intensity and signal-to-noise ratio of the focus. This work proposes combining a genetic algorithm with the Gauss–Newton method to address this problem. Using this combined algorithm, we can efficiently obtain the correct and precise input wavefront for light scattering focus. The accuracy and stability of our proposed algorithm are verified using both numerical simulation and experiment.