Scattering of light passing through a statistically rough interface between media with different refractive indices after laser correction of vision

Forward scattering of light passing through large-scale irregularities of the interface between two media having different refractive indices is considered. An analytical expression for the ratio of intensities of directional and diffusion components of scattered light in the far-field zone is derived. It is theoretically shown that the critical depth of possible interface relief irregularities, starting from which the intensity of the diffuse component in the passing light flow becomes comparable with the directional light component, responsible for the image formation on the eye retina, is 3 — 4 μm, with the increase in the refractive index in the postoperational zone taken into account. These profile depth values agree with the experimentally measured ones and may affect the contrast sensitivity of vision.