Scattering of electromagnetic waves from a half space of nonspherical particles

Abstract

The scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave obliquely incident on a half space of nonspherical particles is studied. Coherent wave transmission and reflection are investigated with the quasicrystalline approximation. Generally, there can be two characteristic waves that are excited in the scattering medium. The propagation constants and the polarization properties of the two characteristic waves are calculated from the generalized Lorentz‐Lorenz law. The amplitudes are then obtained by solving the equations of the generalized Ewald‐Oseen extinction theorem. In the limit of low concentration of particles, the results are identical to those of Foldy's approximation. The incoherent scattered field is calculated with the distorted Born approximation and generally gives a nonzero depolarization return in the backscattering direction. Numerical results are illustrated as a function of incidence angle and properties of the scattering medium.