Diffraction by rectangular parallelepiped, hexagonal cylinder, and three-axis ellipsoid: Some analytic solutions and numerical results

Analytical solutions are presented for Fraunhofer diffraction by the following nonspherical particles: rectangular parallelepiped, hexagonal cylinder, spheroid, and three-axis ellipsoid. Using these solutions, numerical results for the diffracted intensity of these particles in specific orientations and 3-D random orientation for an ensemble of particles of the same size are presented and discussed in terms of their minima and maxima that occur in intensity patterns, which differ substantially from their spherical counterparts.

► We derived analytic solution of diffracted intensity for three nonspherical particles. ► For hexagonal aperture, a dark circle is shown within hexagonal diffracted pattern. ► Angular radius of dark circle is the first minimum of a circular aperture of same area. ► We developed a model to explain positions of minima/maxima in diffracted intensity.