Extension of vectorial complex ray model and its application to the metrology of non-spherical particles

Overview & Synopsis

This thesis is dedicated to the extension of Vectorial Complex Ray Model (VCRM)developed in the laboratory and its application in the characterization of large nonspherical particles. In various research domains, such as the uid mechanics and the combustion field, we need to measure the characteristics of the particles. Among di_erent kinds of measurement techniques, the optical metrology is largely employed due to its advantage of being accurate, reliable and non-intrusive. However, in many optical techniques, the shape of the particles is assumed to be spherical. The main reason of this limit is due to the lack of theoretical model to describe with precision the interaction of light with large non-spherical particles. The Vectorial Complex Ray Model has been developed to reply this demand. It is based on the ray model but a radical improvement has been done by introducing a new property the wave front curvatures in the ray model. In this thesis, the model is firstly applied to reexamine the Airy theory. It is shown that even in the case of spherical particle VCRM predicts better the intensity and positions of supernumerary bows of rainbow than the Airy theory. Then VCRM is applied to investigate the properties of the rainbows formed by a spheroidal (prolate or oblate) particle. It is shown that VCRM can predict analytically the positions and the intensity of supernumerary bows and the peaks due to the focal effect when it is illuminated by a plane wave in the symmetrical plane.The theoretical research results have been also applied to the experimental characterization of a pendant drop. The intensity ratio of the two first orders of rainbow is shown sensible to the aspect ratio of the equivalent spheroid and it opens a potential to develop a measurement technique to characterize the deformation of pendant drop.