Distinguishing Between Spherical and Nonspherical Particles by Measuring the Variability in Azimuthal Light Scattering

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Abstract
Azimuthal variabilities in scattering of monochromatic, circularly polarized light by individual spherical and nonspherical particles were measured using the DAWN-A (Wyatt et al. Appl. Opt. 27:2405–2421, 1988) differential light scattering detector. Measured aerosols included polystyrene latex spheres (PSL), quartz, and sodium chloride particles of 0.576, 0.741, 0.966, and 1.250 μm diameter. Signals from eight detectors at different azimuthal angles at a polar angle of 55° showed that variabilities for nonspherical particles significantly exceeded values for the spherical PSL. The probability that a quartz or sodium chloride particle would be incorrectly identified as a sphere are less than about 5% for all sizes investigated.