Depolarized laser light scattered by motile spermatozoa

Abstract The depolarized component of laser light scattered by swimming spermatozoa was experimentally observed with use of a photoelectron counting technique. The time dependence of the observed correlation function was similar to that of the polarized component, with the exception of the characteristic decay time. This characteristic decay time was found to be a measure of motility. We concluded that the origin of the depolarized light was the scattering due to the internal motion of flagella.