Mode-selective dynamic light scattering spectroscopy: application to the isotropic phase of liquid crystals

We have developed a new method of "mode-selective" dynamic light scattering spectroscopy. This method allows us to study dynamic modes usually hidden behind large fluctuations of a critical mode. Here we apply this method to measurements of three dynamic modes of the isotropic phase of liquid crystals near the isotropic-nematic transition. In conventional methods detecting thermally excited modes, the thermal diffusion and sound modes are usually overwhelmed by the orientational relaxation mode since the intensity of the last mode diverges toward the isotropic-nematic critical point. Thanks to the phase-coherent detection ability of our method, we have successfully observed the thermal diffusion and sound modes without the interference of incoherent critical orientational fluctuations.