Retrieving refractive index of single spheres using the phase spectrum of light-scattering pattern
Romanov A.V., Maltsev V.P., and Yurkin M.A. Retrieving refractive index of single spheres using the phase spectrum of light-scattering pattern, Opt. Laser Technol. 161, 109141 (2023). (PDF)
The second (but not last...) paper in a row. It is a nice example of moving from pure theory to practical applications. In another recent paper we developed a theoretical background for long-used spectral method and briefly mentioned potential implications of this theory. Then we took one of these hints and developed the theory further for a homogeneous sphere (proving an approximate relation between some feature of the Fourier spectrum of the light-scattering pattern and the sphere refractive index). We used this relation to build a characterization method for polystyrene beads and tested it on experimental data. And, voilà, it works (see the figure) - almost as accurate as the well-established non-linear regression, but 300 times faster. Moreover, the visible outliers are actually useful, as they indicate the measurement uncertainty (can be used to tune the set-up).
And importantly, this is the final (fifth) touch of Andrey's PhD project, although he has already received the degree three months ago. For me, as a supervisor, this means an easy paper - Andrey is highly proficient and did most of the work himself. And it shows a healthy tendency of more focused (shorter) papers. Starting with two 15-pages paper and a 18-pages review, Andrey continued with 8- and now a 7-pages paper. I wish him to push this trend towards the length typical for Science and Nature (or, at least, for Phys. Rev. Lett.).
