Light scattering from a spherical particle on a conducting plane: I. Normal incidence

An efficient procedure is developed for calculating light scattering from a spherical particle on a conducting plane. The problem is converted into an equivalent two-particle scattering problem by the method of images. The scattering solution for this two-particle problem is then obtained by the multipole expansion method. Mirror symmetry is exploited to simplify the calculation. Formulas are developed for the differential-scattering cross section and for the extinction and the absorption cross sections. Several example problems are calculated, and the exact solutions are compared with the results from two approximation procedures. © 1992 Optical Society of America.