Interference effects in the light scattering by transparent plates

Abstract

We examine the effect of interference on the light scattering by transparent plates of arbitrary refractive index with moderate to large width-to-thickness ratios using a scattering model developed within the framework of the geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD). The GTD method bridges the gap between the geometric optics and the resonance region, thus allowing us to investigate the light scattered by plates of very large size down to the size of a few wavelengths. In particular, we study the dependence of the angular distribution of the intensity and the linear polarization on the geometrical dimensions of the plate.