Abstract
FOR a non-absorbing, spherical particle which is very small compared with the wave-length of the incident light, the intensity of the scattered light may be calculated from the Rayleigh equation, which assumes that the particle may be represented by a single vibrating electric dipole. The limit normally associated with its use is a radius, r, of 0.05λ, where λ is the wave-length of the radiation in the medium surrounding the particle. This corresponds to a value of the size parameter α = 2πr/λ of 0.3 approximately. When the particle is comparable in size to the wave-length of the incident light, account must be taken of the electric multipoles and the induced magnetic multipoles. The solution of this problem was originally proposed by Mie1 for any values of α and m, where m is the refractive index of the particle relative to that of the medium, and involves complicated expressions which are laborious to evaluate.
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JAYCOCK, M., PARFITT, G. Errors involved in using the Rayleigh Equation for Interpretation of Light-Scattering Data beyond its Normally Accepted Limits. Nature 194, 77 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/194077a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/194077a0
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