Photometer for quasielastic and classical light scattering

An accurate light scattering photometer capable of measuring both the angular distribution of intensity and the intensity fluctuation spectrum of laser light scattered from a wide variety of samples including solutions of polymers and other macromolecules is described. The photometer employs 18 fixed scattering angles ranging from 2.6° to 163° and is sufficiently accurate to measure a molecular radius of gyration as small as 60 Å reliably. Stray elastically scattered light normally comprises less than 1% of the light scattered from pure toluene at the smallest scattering angle and is unmeasurable at other angles. The apparatus employs optical fibers to transmit the scattered light to a single photomultiplier tube and functions automatically under microprocessor control, with sample temperature controlled to ±0.1 mK.