A unifying approach for the vectorial Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction integrals

Abstract

A unique approximation to the vectorial Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction integrals (RSDI) is developed to study the diffraction properties of apertures illuminated with collimated, converging or diverging polarized waves. The apertures can be bigger or smaller than the wavelength of the illumination light. For circular apertures, it is shown that the approach can be expressed as a simple set of equations containing one-dimensional integrals.