WAVE SCATTERING BY A CHIRAL SPHEROID

An exact analytic solution is presented, by using the method of separation of variables, to the problem of electromagnetic wave scattering by an optically active (chiral) spheroid. Fields outside as well as inside the spheroid are expanded in terms of vector spheroidal eigenfunctions, and a set of simultaneous linear equations is obtained by imposing boundary conditions on the surface of the spheroid. Solution of these equations results in the unknown coefficients in the series expansions of the associated fields. The behavior of the scattered fields is illustrated by plots of scattering cross sections for both prolate and oblate spheroids of different sizes and materials in the resonance region.