Effects of asphericity on single-particle polarized light scattering.

Polarized light scattering from individual particles has been analyzed to determine the effects of particle shape. Flow cytometric techniques were used on samples of spherical microspheres and naturally occurring marine algae. An analog of the depolarization ratio was obtained by using crossed polarizers in the source and detector of the flow cytometer. Results suggest that differences between the polarized light scattering of spheres and aspherical particles are not discernible unless the scattered intensities are normalized to the forward scattering, which is roughly equivalent to particulate cross section. This research indicates that polarized light scattering, when normalized to particle size, may provide an indication of the extent of asphericity of hydrosols.