Rheology of complex fluids measured by dynamic light scattering

We introduce a method for using dynamic light scattering to measure the frequency-dependent linear viscoelastic moduli of complex fluids. The technique exploits the fluctuation dissipation theorem, which relates the relaxation of thermal excitations of a probe particle to the viscoelastic properties of the surrounding medium. The relaxation of the thermal excitations of probe particles are determined by measuring the time evolution of the mean square displacement using dynamic light scattering. A Langevin equation with a time-dependent damping term is used to relate this mean square displacement to the dynamic shear modulus of the medium. This method probes the linear viscoelastic moduli over a much larger frequency range than traditional mechanical means, and in particular, easily extends their measurement to much higher frequencies.