Time integrated detection of femtosecond laser pulses scattered by small droplets

Scattering of femtosecond laser pulses by small droplets has been measured and compared with predictions, yielding some interesting new applications for time integrated detection of the scattered field. The scattering intensity of integrated detection becomes monotonic with droplet size over large regions of scattering angle and morphology dependent resonances are surpressed, opening the way for particle sizing using the scattered intensity. Furthermore, the ripple structure no longer appears in the rainbow region of scattering, simplifying rainbow refractometry significantly. These scattering proporties of femtosecond laser pulses have been demonstrated in the laboratory using a novel Paul trap for levitating single droplets. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.