Separating diffraction from scattering: the million-dollar challenge

Philip Laven

doi:10.1117/1.3374327

1 March 2010 Separating diffraction from scattering: the million-dollar challenge

Philip Laven

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Journal of Nanophotonics, Vol. 4, Issue 1, 041593 (March 2010). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3374327

Abstract

Craig Bohren has offered a million-dollar prize to anyone who can devise a detector that accepts scattered light but rejects diffracted light. This challenge was examined from a theoretical perspective by considering the scattering of red light by a spherical droplet of water with diameter 20 μm. Illumination of the droplet by short pulses (e.g. a duration of 5 fs) could allow a detector to distinguish between light scattered by various mechanisms, such as diffraction, transmission, reflections and surface waves. Although such techniques would not satisfy the precise terms of the challenge, the time domain approach can deliver remarkable insights into the details of the scattering processes.

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Philip Laven "Separating diffraction from scattering: the million-dollar challenge," Journal of Nanophotonics 4(1), 041593 (1 March 2010). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3374327

Published: 1 March 2010

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