Surface scattering of core-shell particles with anisotropic shell.

The Bobbert-Vlieger solution to light scattering of a spherical particle suspended above a surface is extended to model the scattering of core-shell structures with anisotropic shell. Numerical modeling demonstrates that ellipsometry has potential to resolve particle shell anisotropy down to 1.8×10(-4) for SiO(2)@Au core-shell particles in air with 50 nm core diameter and 10 nm shell thickness deposited on a silicon Si [100] substrate with a density of 1  μm(-2). Application of the Ibrahim and Bashara criterion for ellipsometer parameter cross correlation identifies variable-angle ellipsometry as a viable experimental approach to separate particle core radius and shell thickness from the shell anisotropy. Ellipsometry is also identified as an alternative technique for determination of liposome anisotropy and for the study of liposome fusion with a substrate in the formation process of supported lipid bilayers.