The conventional coherence theory suggests that the fields radiated by statistically homogeneous sources correlate over spatial regions of the order of the wavelength irrespective of the distance from the surface of the source. Contrary to these predictions, we show that the spatial correlations of optical fields in close proximity of highly scattering, randomly inhomogeneous media depend on this distance and, moreover, their extent can be significantly smaller than the wavelength. The contribution of evanescent fields is experimentally demonstrated and the coherence length in the near field is shown to relate to the coherence properties at the surface which are, in turn, determined by the structural characteristics of the random media.

Optical fields in the proximity of random media can be modeled as a superposition of waves with random phases. We demonstrate that, depending on the experimental geometry, both Gaussian and non-Gaussian regimes can be established for the statistics of scattered intensity. In a reflection-emission configuration, the first-order statistics of the scattered light is non-Gaussian and it can be used to retrieve information about the physical interface.

The statistical properties of the intensity in close proximity to highly scattering, randomly inhomogeneous media are investigated. Whereas the intensity probability density function obeys the same law irrespective of the distance z from the interface, the second-order intensity correlation length changes for distances smaller than the wavelength. Contrary to predictions of the conventional coherence theory, the corresponding field correlation length can be smaller than the wavelength of light.

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The spatial coherence theory of optical fields radiated by statistically homogeneous, infinite, planar sources does not account for detailed surface characteristics. However, coherence properties change with the angular distribution of the intensity radiated from such a source, which, in turn, depends on the physical properties of the sample. We show that second-order correlations of the optical field measured at several wavelengths away from the surface of a highly inhomogeneous medium relate to the statistical characteristics of the interface.