The partial light scattering cross section of spherical particles.

Abstract

We define the partial scattering cross section and partial efficiencies to demonstrate that the total scattering is the sum of two roughly equal parts: approximately half from the forward scattering lobe due to 2D diffraction by the projected sphere and half from the 2D to 3D diffraction crossover. The first part is at angles such that θ≲λ/D, a result previously known, which can be quite small for large particles. The second part is in a new regime we call the "hump," visible in q-space, which to a good approximation contains the other half of the scattered light. The hump disappears when the imaginary part of the refractive index is significant.