Anomalous scattering of polystyrene microparticles revealed by evanescent wave coupled cavity ringdown spectroscopy

Abstract

Forward scattering is an essential tool for investigating the colloidal suspension of polystyrene microspheres (PSMs). Evanescent wave coupled cavity ringdown spectroscopy (EW-CRDS) shows the anomalous extinction behavior in the limit of PSM particles that is much larger than the wavelength. EW-CRDS is a highly sensitive technique that improves weak absorption signals by enhancing the absorption path length, allowing for probing a range of processes at the solid/liquid interface by assessing the extinction properties. Additionally, it possesses the ability to sense a minimum absorbance of 1.2 × 10⁻⁶. EW-CRDS provides sufficient accuracy to detect correlation effects for PSMs in water at the interfacial region and their influence on forward scattering or extinction. In this work, we discuss the impact of volume fraction on the extinction of scatterers composed of microparticles in aqueous media. The findings of this study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the scattering dynamics in colloidal suspensions, with potential applications in various fields, including biology and metrology.