Scattering of light by disordered spherulites. II. Effect of disorder in the magnitude of the anisotropy

The contribution to the disorder scattering by imperfect spherulites resulting from fluctuations in the magnitude of the anisotropy is analyzed for two-dimensional spherulites. The fluctuations are described in terms of a parameter characterizing the meansquare amplitude of the fluctuation and a correlation function describing the distance over which the correlation occurs. Cases considered are those where the correlation depends on either the radial or the angular separation of the scattering volume elements. As with the case of disorder in orientation, one finds that disorder in anisotropy may result in a nonzero value of intensity at μ = 0° and 90°, a decrease in the higher-order variation of scattered intensity with θ, and an increase in the intensity of scattering at higher values of θ over that for a perfect spherulite. In addition, disorder in the angular direction leads to an increase in the scattered intensity at small values of θ as compared with the zero intensity of scattering from a perfect spherulite at θ = 0°.