Light Scattering - Introduction

Introduction

The interaction of light with matter can shed light on important information about the structure and dynamics of the material being examined. If the scattering centers are in motion, then the scattered radiation is Doppler shifted. An analysis of the spectrum of scattered light can thus yield information regarding the motion of the scattering center. Periodicity or structural repetition in the scattering medium will cause interference in the spectrum of scattered light. Thus, a study of the scattered light intensity as a function of scattering angle gives information about the structure, spatial configuration, or morphology of the scattering medium. With regard to light scattering in liquids and solids, primary material considerations include:

• Crystalline structure: How close-packed its atoms or molecules are, and whether or not the atoms or molecules exhibit the long-range order evidenced in crystalline solids.

• Glassy structure: Scattering centers include fluctuations in density and/or composition.

• Microstructure: Scattering centers include internal surfaces in liquids due largely to density fluctuations, and microstructural defects in solids such as grains, grain boundaries, and microscopic pores.

In the process of light scattering, the most critical factor is the length scale of any or all of these structural features relative to the wavelength of the light being scattered.

An extensive review of light scattering in fluids has covered most of the mechanisms which contribute to the spectrum of scattered light in liquids, including density, anisotropy, and concentration fluctuations. Thus, the study of light scattering by thermally driven density fluctuations (or Brillouin scattering) has been utilized successfully for the measurement of structural relaxation and viscoelasticity in liquids, as well as phase separation, vitrification and compressibility in glasses. In addition, the introduction of dynamic light scattering and photon correlation spectroscopy has made possible the measurement of the time dependence of spatial correlations in liquids and glasses in the relaxation time gap between 10−6 and 10−2 s in addition to even shorter time scales – or faster relaxation events. It has therefore become quite clear that light scattering is an extremely useful tool for monitoring the dynamics of structural relaxation in glasses on various temporal and spatial scales and therefore provides an ideal tool for quantifying the capacity of various glass compositions for guided light wave transmission well into the far infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• Note: Light scattering in an ideal defect-free crystalline (non-metallic) solid which provides no scattering centers for incoming lightwaves will be due primarily to any effects of anharmonicity within the ordered lattice. Lightwave transmission will be highly directional due to the typical anisotropy of crystalline substances, which includes their symmetry group and Bravais lattice. For example, the seven different crystalline forms of quartz silica (silicon dioxide, SiO₂) are all clear, transparent materials.