Measurements of Rayleigh ratios in linear alkylbenzene

Abstract

This paper describes a new experimental setup designed for the direct measurement of the Rayleigh ratio and Rayleigh scattering length for linear alkylbenzene, a solvent commonly used in liquid scintillator detectors for neutrino experiments. Using the new approach, the perpendicularly polarized Rayleigh ratio was determined to be (4.52 ± 0.28) × 10−6 m−1 sr−1 at 405 nm and (3.82 ± 0.24) × 10−6 m−1 sr−1 at 432 nm, and the corresponding Rayleigh scattering length was LRay = 22.9 ± 0.3(stat.) ± 1.7(sys.) m at 405 nm and LRay = 27.0 ± 0.9(stat.) ± 1.8(sys.) m at 432 nm. These results are consistent with both previous results determined using other experimental strategies and theoretical predictions.