Hi guys,
I am interested in the optical properties of dielectrics at the moment. There are different types of dielectrics, which are often classified by their homogeneity or uniformity. From what I have read, uniformity is defined as follow: a dielectric is non uniform if the size of its particles are large compared to light's wavelength. I also read that homogeneity is not a good criterion, because a material with particles smaller than the wavelengths of visible light will has to be considered as inhomogeneous, although it behaves uniformly.
At first it sounded good to me. But then I thought about Rayleigh scattering. This occurs with particles that are much smaller than the wavelengths of light, doesn't it? THen surely that sould bread down the validity of the definition of uniformity, since particles smaller than light wavelengths generate a (weak) scatter.
Is that definition rubbish then? Any comments?
Thanks in advance
Enrique