Diffraction Properties of Absorbing Cylinders Suspended in Outside Absorbing Media

Abstract

The forms of the diffracted E and H fields, for absorbing cylinders with radii small compared to the wavelength and suspended in outside absorbing media, have been determined from Maxwell's equations and boundary conditions, when these cylinders are illuminated by plane periodic electromagnetic waves in a direction perpendicular to their axes, and the electric vector is parallel or perpendicular to the axes. From these E and H fields the time averages of the radiant flux and the electric field energy densities consist of exponentially increasing or decreasing background terms, characteristic of the incident and diffracted waves, and interaction terms, which generate exponentially decreasing maxima and minima or interference fringes, whose radial spacings increase with the angle from the direction of incidence. The radiant fluxes have properties characteristic of creeping waves. Particular attention has been devoted to determining the boundary conditions for each of the vector fields and retaining the prop...