The science of light scattering was first described by Lord Rayleigh at the end of the 19th century. Experiments in the field have proceeded since that time within the limitations of the technology available. When monochromatic, polarized lasers became available in the early 1970s, light scattering technology began to be applied to practical instruments for research and industrial use.

In the early 90's, laser diodes of sufficient power, DSPs (digital signal processors), APDs (avalanche photo-diodes) and other devices became available that could be applied economically to the design of reliable and stable light scattering detectors. With these innovations, the market began to expand beyond the research laboratory.

The designers of the first PD2000 family of instruments have been manufacturing light scattering detectors since the 1970s, applying this technology to both static and dynamic light scattering. They were awarded some of the earliest patents in the field.

Today there are two principal light scattering technologies that are used widely outside of academic settings; light scattering intensity measurement (also known as static or Rayleigh scattering) and dynamic light scattering measurement (also known as quasi-elastic light scattering or photon correlation spectroscopy).