Abstract
We present near infrared total transmission measurements through samples of randomly packed silicon powders. At different wavelengths we analyze in detail the scattering properties and the effects of residual absorption. The lowest value of kls, where k is the wave vector and ls is the scattering mean free path, is 3.2. We also observe that kls is nearly constant over a wide wavelength range. This phenomenon is associated with the high polydispersity of the particles. We use the energy density coherent potential approximation to explain our measurements.