Non-spherical particle size retrieval by angular resolved elastic light scattering using the T-matrix method

Abstract

In this study, angular resolved elastic light scattering signals are employed to retrieve the spheroidal and cylindrical particle size distribution (PSD) using the T-matrix method. The interesting features of this simulation are that, to retrieve the size distribution of the particles, simulation does not need any initial information about the number density of the particles per unit volume. Moreover, both cylindrical and spheroidal PSD can be retrieved by using this same simulation. A probability density function-based ant colony optimization (PDF-ACO) algorithm is used to solve the inverse problem to retrieve the target parameters. For the direct problem, intensity of the scattering particles is measured at seven different angular positions and the ratio of the sum of this scattering intensity to the scattering intensity at a reference angle is used to fit the objective function of the inverse problem. In regards to retrieving parameters, the robustness of the PDF-ACO algorithm shows good agreement with the true parameters. Even with 5% measurement noise, the retrieval accuracy can be achieved within the tolerable error limit of less than 10%.