ENHANCED OPTICAL ROTATION AND DIMINISHED DEPOLARIZATION IN DIFFUSIVE SCATTERING FROM A CHIRAL LIQUID

摘要

Optical rotation and degree of polarization of linearly polarized light were observed by forward, lateral, and back scattering from solutions of D-glucose containing a dispersion of micron-size polystyrene spheres, Rotations increased linearly with glucose concentration at a rate determined by the microsphere concentration and were large even at optical thicknesses sufficiently great to extinguish transmission of the incident beam. Depolarization of light with increasing microsphere concentration occurred at a much slower rate in chiral glucose solution than in pure water. These experiments suggest new possibilities for studying turbid chiral media for which light transmission and specular reflection techniques are inappropriate. [References: 13]