Light scattering studies of Brownian motion in confined geometries

Summary Dynamic light scattering can be a useful tool to determine the confinement of Brownian particles whose motion is restricted to dimensions comparable to the wavelength of the light. The theoretical form of the correlation function of the electric field scattered from such trapped particles has been derived and compared with the signal obtained both in a simulated experiment and in a real experiment where the particles are trapped in a glass wedge. This new result can be of relevance for particles trapped in various media such as a porous (transparent) media, a gel, a suspension of lamellar phases or even a concentrated colloidal suspension where a particle is ?trapped? by its neighbours. Paper presented at the I International Conference on Scaling Concepts and Complex Fluids, Copanello, Italy, July 4–8, 1994.