Laser Light Scattering from Liquids

Many detailed reviews of laser scattering from fluids (1-16) have appeared since the comprehensive review by Chu (1) in this series. Among these, we would like to call attention to those by Swinney (14) on critical phenomena, by Gelbart (13) on collision-induced phenomena, by Pecora (7) on macromolecules in solution, and by Fleury & Boon (12) on the overall field of scattering from fluids. Over the past ten years, laser light scattering has become a major tool for studying the dynamical properties of gases, liquids, and solids. The literature has grown so rapidly that in one of the reviews cited above (12) there are about 513 references covering the period from 1964 to the beginning of 1972, and these do not even include Raman scattering or the scattering from solids (5). Obviously, the field has become so vast as to be impossible to offer either a critical or didactic review of all of its interesting applications in the limited space available. In any case, much of this material is amply reviewed elsewhere (1-16). Consequently, we limit ourselves to a description of some recent advances in subjects of interest to us. Specific attention is paid to the application of light scattering to the study of macromolecules, bacterial motion, gels, collision-induced anisotropies, and rotational motion of small molecules in liquids. The important fields of critical scattering (14), polarized (Rayleigh-Brillouin) scattering from liquids gases composed of small molecules (12), and scattering from solids (4, 5) liquid crystals (12) are not discussed in this review.