Universidad de La Sabana - Engineering Faculty

Class: Particulate Technology Engineering

Group members: Laura Alejandra Pinzón, José Sebastián Arcos, David Barbosa Arévalo,
Andrés Felipe Zapata

Laser Diffraction

Laser diffraction analysis, also known as static light scattering, is the most commonly used
method for determining particle size distributions.

Laser diffraction is a particle size measurement technique, it is widely used for materials
that can range from hundreds of nanometers to several millimeters in size [1]. This consists
of passing a laser beam through a sample of well-dispersed particles and the size of the
particles is measured by detecting the intensity of the scattered light produced, large
particles scatter light at small angles in relation to the laser beam, unlike small particles that
scatter light at large angles. Subsequently, the data of the angular scattering intensity are
analyzed to calculate the size of the particles responsible for creating the scattering pattern,
for this purpose the Mie theory of light scattering is used [2].

Mie's theory is used to evaluate the measurements of particles whose diameters are not
significantly greater than the wavelength of the light used, as previously mentioned, it is
used to analyze the characteristic intensity distributions of smaller particles that do not they
are limited to scattering angles less than 90º. To use the determined intensity distribution to
calculate the size of the particles, it is necessary to know the refractive index and the
absorption index of the sample material for this theory [3].

Fig No.1 Mie theory, source [3]

Bibliography:

1. Malvern Panalytical. (2013). Análisis de tamaño de partículas con difracción de

láser. Malvern Panalytical a spectris company.
https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/es/products/technology/light-scattering/laser-
diffraction

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 2. Automatización S.A. (2023). Difracción Láser. Acceso: 30 de enero de 2023.
https://www.automatizacion.com.co/es/producto/difraccion-laser

3. Fritsch GmbH. (2023). La teoría de Mie. Fritsch. Acceso: 30 de enero de 2023.

https://www.fritsch.es/medicion-de-particulas/conocimientos-de-fritsch/la-teoria-de-
mie/

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