Abstract

Scattering and absorption of electromagnetic radiation by systems composed of individual spheres in close proximity^1-5 or from subsystems completely enclosed by and arbitrarily located within a larger spherical system^6,7 has been the subject of a great deal of research. In this paper we examine a system composed of two spheres which overlap as shown in Figure 1. The first sphere of radius a₁ and refractive index m₁ is centered on the x₁,y₁,z₁ coordinate system; the second sphere of radius a₂ and refractive index m₂ is centered on the x₂,y₂,z₂ coordinate system at a position x₁ = 0, y₁ = 0, z₁ = d. The incident radiation is a plane wave traveling in the x-z plane, oriented at angle α with respect to the z axis.

© 1996 Optical Society of America