JaSTA-3: Light scattering simulations for heterogeneous aggregate
Description
This article announces the development of the third version of the Java Superposition T-matrix App (JaSTA-3), to study the light scattering properties of heterogeneous aggregate particles. It has been developed using Netbeans 7.1.2, which is a Java integrated development environment (IDE). The JaSTA uses double precision superposition codes for multi-sphere clusters in random orientation, developed by Mackowski and Mischenko (1996). The new version consists of three options as part of the input parameters: (i) single wavelength, (ii) multiple wavelengths and (iii) Heterogeneous geometry. The first and second options (which retain the applicability of older versions of JaSTA) calculate the light scattering properties of aggregates of spheres for single and multiple wavelengths for randomly oriented particles, whereas the third option can execute light scattering simulations for heterogeneous aggregates (polydisperse and inhomogeneous) for multiple number of wavelengths in a single run over both random orientation and fixed orientation. JaSTA-3 is a major update of the application that aims to provide light scattering feed for more complex aggregates that can be used in diverse fields like Astrophysics, Planetary Science, Atmospheric Science, Nanoscience, etc. This version of the software is developed for Linux platform only, and it can take advantage of all the cores of a processor using the multi-threading option.