| Abstract: | The theory of small-angle light scattering was developed for oblique incidence of the light beam on the surface of a two-dimensional spherulite. Results of the theory were compared with previously reported results of light scattering from two-dimensional and three-dimensional spherulites for normal incidence, and with some experimental patterns. The comparisons suggest that the scattering intensity distributions of two-dimensional spherulites deviate from those of three-dimensional spherulites when the sample surface is tilted with respect to the propagation direction of the incident beam, although they are almost identical when the sample surface is normal to the incident beam. Observation of the change of scattered intensity distributions upon tilting the samples thus provides a method of distinguishing between two-dimensional and three-dimensional spherulites. Moreover, this observation makes it possible to determine the degree of planar orientation of the optic axes of optically anisotropic scattering elements within two-dimensional spherulites. The calculations were carried out for special cases of two-dimensional spherulites with the optic axis orientation confined to the two-dimensional plane and randomly or helicoidally rotated around the spherulite radii. |
