Comparison of scattering by different nonspherical, wavelength-scale particles

It is well established that spherical and nonspherical particles scatter light differently. There are a large number of studies where scattering properties of different nonspherical particles are studied. Here we study to what degree scattering matrices of different nonspherical particles resemble each other, and whether there are significant correlations between morphological similarity and similar single-scattering properties. Altogether 15 different shapes are considered, including both irregular and regular shapes as well as homogeneous and inhomogeneous particles. For all nonspherical particles, orientation- and ensemble-averaged scattering properties are considered, and variability within each ensemble is ignored. The results reveal that different nonspherical shapes have surprisingly similar phase functions. An analysis of the asymmetry parameter reveals that the resemblance is, however, only qualitative: the phase functions are featureless and predominantly flat at side scattering, but they are nevertheless different. The degree of linear polarization for unpolarized incident light shows much larger differences among the shapes, albeit it is much more positive for all nonspherical targets than for Mie spheres. Similar to the phase function, the depolarization ratio tends to be similar among the nonspherical particle types, implying that the strength of depolarization cannot be used as a measure for the type of nonsphericity. In general, it is found that there does not seem to be a clear correlation between particle morphology and scattering properties.

► Scattering matrices of 15 differently shaped particles are compared. ► Nonspherical particles have been ensemble- and orientation averaged. ► Scattering is remarkably similar between nonspherical targets. ► Inverting shape information from light scattering appears challenging.