Light scattering

Light scattering in an optical fiber

Scattering of light - the scattering of electromagnetic waves in the visible range during their interaction with matter. In this case, a change in the spatial distribution, frequency , and polarization of the optical radiation occurs, although often scattering refers only to the transformation of the angular distribution of the light flux.

Let be $\omega$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega}$ $\ omega$ and $\omega ^{\prime }$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ - frequencies of incident and scattered light, respectively. Then

If a $\omega =\omega ^{\prime }$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega = \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega = \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ - elastic scattering
If a $\omega \neq \omega ^{\prime }$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega \ neq \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega \ neq \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ Inelastic scattering

$\omega >\omega ^{\prime }$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega> \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega> \ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ - Stokes scattering
$\omega <\omega ^{\prime }$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega <\ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ ${\ displaystyle \ omega <\ omega ^ {\ prime}}$ - anti-stokes scattering

The scattered light provides information on the structure and dynamics of the material.

Types of scattering characteristic of light:

Rayleigh scattering is elastic scattering by small particles much smaller than the wavelength.
Mie scattering - elastic scattering by large particles.
Mandelstam-Brillouin scattering is inelastic scattering by lattice vibrations.
Raman scattering is inelastic scattering by atomic vibrations in a molecule.
Tyndall scattering - elastic light scattering by inhomogeneous media.

Literature

Scattering of light - article from the Physical Encyclopedia

Light scattering

Literature

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