Abstract

Transient electromagnetic wave propagation in a stratified, anisotropic, dispersive medium is considered. Specifically, the direct scattering problem is addressed. The dispersive, anisotropic medium is modeled by constitutive relations (a 3 × 3 matrix-valued susceptibility operator) containing time convolution integrals. In the general case, nine different susceptibility kernels characterize the medium. An incident plane wave impinges obliquely upon a finite slab consisting of a stratified anisotropic medium. The scattered fields are obtained as time convolutions of the incident field with the scattering kernels. The scattering (reflection and transmission) kernels are uniquely determined by the slab and are independent of the incident field. The scattering problem is solved by a wave-splitting technique. Two different methods for determining the scattering kernels are presented: an embedding and a Green’s function approach. Explicit analytic expressions of the wave front are given for a special class of media. Some numerical examples illustrate the analysis.

© 1993 Optical Society of America

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