Partial polarization of light induced by random defects at surfaces or bulks.

Partial polarization may be the result of a scattering process from a fully polarized incident beam. It is shown how the "loss of polarization" is connected with the nature of scatterers (surface roughness, bulk heterogeneity) and on the receiver solid angle. These effects are theoretically predicted and confirmed via multiscale polarization measurements in the speckle pattern of rough surfaces. "Full" polarization can be recovered when reducing the receiver aperture.