Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rayleigh and Mie Scattering

Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology

  • 196 Accesses

Synonyms

Elastic light scattering; Elastic scattering; Lorenz-Mie theory; Lorenz-Mie-Debye theory; Mie solution; Mie theory

Definitions

Rayleigh scattering refers primarily to the elastic scattering of light from atomic and molecular particles whose diameter is less than about one-tenth the wavelength of the incident light.

Rayleigh line refers to the unshifted central peak observed in the spectroscopic analysis of scattered light.

Mie scattering refers primarily to the elastic scattering of light from atomic and molecular particles whose diameter is larger than about the wavelength of the incident light.

Thomson scattering is elastic scattering of light from free electrons.

Raman scattering is inelastic scattering of light from objects whereby the scattered photon has a lower (Raman Stokes scattering) or higher (Raman anti-Stokes scattering) energy than the incident photon.

Introduction

From ancient times, people have gazed up at the sky in daylight and asked the perennial question...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Lilienfeld, P.: A blue sky history. Opt. Photonics News 15(6), 32–39 (2004). doi:10.1364/OPN.15.6.000032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Strutt, J.W.: On the light from the sky, its polarization and colour. Philos. Mag. Ser. 4 41, 107–120 (1871)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Strutt, J.W.: On the light from the sky, its polarization and colour. Philos. Mag. Ser 4 41, 274–279 (1871)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Strutt, J.W.: On the scattering of light by small particles. Philos Mag. Ser. 4 41, 447–454 (1871)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Strutt, J.W.: On the transmission of light through an atmosphere containing small particles in suspension, and on the origin of the blue of the sky. Philos. Mag. Ser. 5 47, 375–384 (1899)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Mie, G.: Beiträge zur Optik trüber Medien, speziell kolloidaler Metallösungen. Ann. Phys. 330(3), 377–445 (1908)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Young, A.T.: Rayleigh scattering. Phys. Today 35(1), 42–48 (1982)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Twersky, V.: Rayleigh scattering. Appl. Optics 3, 1150–1162 (1964)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hergert, W., Wriedt, T.: The Mie Theory. Springer-Verlag, Berlin (2012). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-28738-1_2

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cox, A.J., DeWeerd, A.J., Linden, J.: An experiment to measure Mie and Rayleigh total scattering cross sections. Am. J. Phys. 70, 620–625 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Hayes, W., Loudon, R.: Scattering of Light by Crystals, p. 2. Wiley-Interscience, New York (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Bohren, C.F., Huffman, D.R.: Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles. Wiley-Interscience, New York (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Wallace, J.M., Hobbs, P.V.: Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey. Academic, Orlando (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Placzek, G.: The Rayleigh and Raman scattering. In: Marx, E. (ed.) Handbuch der Radiologie, vol. 6, Part 2, pp. 209–374. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig (1934)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Loudon, R.: The Quantum Theory of Light. Oxford University Press, London (1973), Chapt. 11

    Google Scholar 

  16. Gavrila, M.: Elastic scattering of photons by a hydrogen atom. Phys. Rev. 163, 147–155 (1967)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Cabannes, J.: Sur la diffusion de la lumière par l’air. C. R. Acad. Sci. 160, 62–63 (1915)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Stone, J.: Measurement of Rayleigh scattering in liquids using optical fibers. Appl. Optics 12, 1824–1827 (1973). doi:10.1364/AO.12.001824

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Miles, R.B., Lempert, W.R., Forkey, J.N.: Laser Rayleigh scattering. Meas. Sci. Technol. 12, R33–R51 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Lines, M.E.: Scattering losses in optic fiber materials. I. A new parameterization. J. Appl. Phys. 55, 4052–4057 (1984). doi:10.1063/1.332994

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Gorodetsky, M.L., Pryamikov, A.D., Ilchenko, V.S.: Rayleigh scattering in high-Q microspheres. J. Opt. Soc. B 17, 1051–1057 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Tzara, C., Barloutaud, R.: Recoilless Rayleigh scattering in solids. Phys. Rev. Lett. 4, 405–406 (1960) and “Erratum” 539

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Svensson, T., Shen, Z.: Laser spectroscopy of gas confined in nanoporous materials. Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 021107 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Hoffman, K.R., Yen, W.M., Lockwood, D.J., Sulewski, P.E.: Birefringence-induced vibrational Raman and Rayleigh optical activity in uniaxial crystals. Phys. Rev. B 49, 182 (1994)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Tsai, M.C., Tsai, T.L., Shieh, D.B., Chiu, H.T., Lee, C.Y.: Detecting HER2 on cancer cells by TiO2 spheres Mie scattering. Anal. Chem. 81(18), 7590–7596 (2009). doi:10.1021/ac900916s

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Wang, M., Cao, M., Guo, Z.R., Gu, N.: Generalized multiparticle Mie modeling of light scattering by cells. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58(21), 2663–2666 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Gompf, B., Pecha, R.: Mie scattering from a sonoluminescing bubble with high spatial and temporal resolution. Phys. Rev. E 61(5), 5253–5256 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lindner, H., Fritz, G., Glatter, O.: Measurements on concentrated oil in water emulsions using static light scattering. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 242, 239–246 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Serebrennikova, Y.M., Patel, J., Garcia-Rubio, L.H.: Interpretation of the ultraviolet–visible spectra of malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Appl. Optics 49(2), 180–188 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Zhao, Q., Zhou, J., Zhang, F.L., Lippens, D.: Mie resonance-based dielectric metamaterials. Mater. Today 12(12), 60–69 (2009). doi:10.1016/S1369-7021(09)70318-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Measurement Science and Standards, National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, K1A 0R6, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    David J. Lockwood

Authors
  1. David J. Lockwood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David J. Lockwood .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Design University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Ronnier Luo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the National Research Council Canada

About this entry

Cite this entry

Lockwood, D.J. (2016). Rayleigh and Mie Scattering. In: Luo, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_218-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_218-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Rayleigh and Mie Scattering
    Published:
    13 August 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_218-3

  2. Rayleigh and Mie Scattering
    Published:
    04 February 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_218-2

  3. Original

    Rayleigh and Mie Scattering
    Published:
    18 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_218-1

Search

Navigation