Dynamic light scattering microscopy. A novel optical technique to image submicroscopic motions. I: theory
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Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Measurement of Particle Size Distribution in Turbid Solutions by Dynamic Light Scattering Microscopy
Published on: January 9, 2017
Rhonda Dzakpasu1, Daniel Axelrod
1Department of Physics and Biophysics Research Division, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. dzakpasu@umich.edu
Abstract:
The theoretical basis of an optical microscope technique to image dynamically scattered light fluctuation decay rates (dynamic light scattering microscopy) is developed. It is shown that relative motions between scattering centers even smaller than the optical resolution of the microscope are sufficient to produce significant phase variations resulting in interference intensity fluctuations in the image plane. The timescale and time dependence for the temporal autocorrelation function of these intensity fluctuations is derived. The spatial correlation distance, which reports the average distance between constructive and destructive interference in the image plane, is calculated and compared with the pixel size, and the distance dependence of the spatial correlation function is derived. The accompanying article in this issue describes an experimental implementation of dynamic light scattering microscopy.
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