Single-particle sizing from light scattering by spectral decomposition

A Fourier transform was applied to size an individual spherical particle from an angular light-scattering pattern. The position of the peak in the amplitude spectrum has a strong correlation with the particle size. A linear equation retrieved from regression analysis of theoretically simulated patterns provides a relation between the particle size and the location of the amplitude spectrum's peak. The equation can be successfully applied to characterize particles of size parameters that range from 8 to 180 (corresponding to particle sizes that range from 1.2 to 27.2 microm at a wavelength of 0.633 microm). The precision of particle sizing depends on the refractive index and reaches a value of 60 nm within refractive-index region from 1.35 to 1.70. We have analyzed four samples of polystyrene microspheres with mean diameters of 1.9, 2.6, 3.0, and 4.2 microm and a sample of isovolumetrically sphered erythrocytes with a scanning flow cytometer to compare the accuracy of our new method with that of others.