Efficient and versatile surface integral approach to light scattering in stratified media.

Abstract

Recent advances in nano-optics elicit a growing need for more efficient numerical treatments of light-matter interaction in stratified backgrounds. While being known for its many favorable properties, usage of the surface integral approach is hindered by numerical difficulties associated with layered-medium Green's functions. We present an efficient and robust implementation of this approach, addressing the limiting issues. The singularity extraction method is generalized to account for the occurring secondary-term singularities. The resulting scheme thus allows for arbitrary positioning of the scatterers. Further, the laborious matrix-filling process is dramatically accelerated through a simple and robustly-devised, spatial interpolation scheme, completely devoid of integral evaluations. The accuracy and versatility of the method are demonstrated by treating several representative plasmonic problems.