Refractive index measurement of pharmaceutical powders in the short-wave infrared range using index matching assisted with phase imaging

Refractive index is a fundamental optical property of powder that is used as an important input in light scattering measurements of the size distribution and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements of the absorption and scattering coefficients. In this work, we demonstrate a method that combines index matching with phase imaging to determine the refractive index of complex powder particles at high accuracy without relying on any assumptions. Index matching is robust, but the accuracy is not high by relying on ocular observation of the interface. Phase imaging using interferometry improves the accuracy of determining the match by an order of magnitude. Using the proposed method, we determine the refractive index of four types of pharmaceutical powder in the short-wave infrared range of 1100–1650 nm. [Display omitted] •Refractive index measurement for complex, arbitrary microparticles.•Index matching with an order-of-magnitude higher accuracy.•Refractive index of pharmaceutical powders in the short-wave infrared range.