Abstract

The statistical version of a perturbation approach for light scattering by perfectly conducting irregular particles, presented in a recent paper [ J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 6, 385– 402 ( 1989)], is extended to arbitrary material. Analytical expressions for the second-order perturbational cross sections are presented for a randomly oriented particle ensemble. A comparison with results obtained from a numerically exact method is carried out to determine the range of validity of the perturbation results. For size parameter α ⪝ 7 (α ≡ kR; k wavenumber and R = particle radius) and slightly absorbing material the agreement is very good only if the surface deviations from the reference sphere are much smaller than wavelength. Problems occur, however, for larger size parameters near sharp resonances in the case of nonabsorbing material. Generally, maximum errors arise for backscattering.

© 1990 Optical Society of America

Light scattering by perfectly conducting statistically irregular particles

Ralf Schiffer
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 6(3) 385-402 (1989)

Ensemble approach to the problem of light scattering by a system of tenuous particles

K. S. Shifrin and I. A. Mikulinsky
Appl. Opt. 26(15) 3012-3017 (1987)

The Scattering of Polarized Light by Polydisperse Systems of Irregular Particles

A. C. Holland and G. Gagne
Appl. Opt. 9(5) 1113-1121 (1970)

Light scattering by size–shape distributions of randomly oriented axially symmetric particles of a size comparable to a wavelength

Michael I. Mishchenko
Appl. Opt. 32(24) 4652-4666 (1993)

Systematic studies of light scattering. 1: Particle shape

D. W. Schuerman, R. T. Wang, B. Å. S. Gustafson, and R. W. Schaefer
Appl. Opt. 20(23) 4039-4050 (1981)