Figure 1.

Side scatter at 405 nm is superior to 488 nm lasers for detection of small spherical particles. (a) Depicts 360°computer-modelled light intensity plots for 405 nm (top; violet) and 488 nm (bottom; blue) for small spherical particles of 100, 200 or 500 nm in size (left to right). Incident laser light (405 nm: violet arrow or 488 nm: blue arrow) passes along a vector from 180° (bottom of the plot) up to the absolute centre of the plot which depicts where the modelled particle is situated. The distribution of scattered light seen (coloured contour line surrounding the modelled particle located at the centre of the plot) varied depending on the size of particle and type of laser (405 vs. 488 nm). (b) Shows the light intensity of side scatter detection at 90° for 405 nm (black bars) and 488 nm (white bars) lasers based on computer modelling for spherical 100, 200 and 500 nm particles (top to bottom) with refractive indices (RIs) of 1.34, 1.37, 1.4 and 1.46.