Microscope spectrometer for light scattering investigations

摘要

We describe a setup including a microscope to study volumes of a few (mu)m~(3) by static and dynamic light scattering (DLS) in a backscattering configuration. Light scattered by individual objects of micrometric size can be analyzed in the 400-800 nm spectral range. This setup can also be employed to study both diluted and concentrated colloidal solutions by DLS measurements. For diluted solutions we found evidence of the fluctuations of the number of particles in a confocal volume. We discuss their contribution to the autocorrelation function of the scattered intensity measured as a function of time.