The intrinsic optical anisotropy of colloidal particles in the anomalous diffraction approximation

Abstract

A simple generalization of the Anomalous Diffraction light scattering approximation is proposed which enables linear birefringence and linear dichroism to be calculated for dispersions of colloidal particles. The case is considered of completely orientated, intrinsically anisotropic, spherical particles. The Anomalous Diffraction approximation shows that the relation between the optical properties of the dispersion, and the optical properties of its constituent particles, is much more complicated than for particles of molecular size, i.e., Rayleigh scatters. The empirical Zocher's Rule, which states that the linear dichroism is a maximum when the linear birefringence is zero, is shown to follow from the Anomalous Diffraction approximation.