Plane Wave And Spread Function Decompositions In Vector Diffraction Theory

Thomas G. Kuper; Roland V. Shack

doi:10.1117/12.949610

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10 May 1986 Plane Wave And Spread Function Decompositions In Vector Diffraction Theory

Thomas G. Kuper, Roland V. Shack

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Proceedings Volume 0560, Diffraction Phenomena in Optical Engineering Applications; (1986) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.949610
Event: 29th Annual Technical Symposium, 1985, San Diego, United States

Abstract

Vector diffraction theory can he formulated along lines completely analogous to scalar theory by expressing the diffracted fields in terms of the Hertz potentials. We show that the diffracted fields can be regarded as superpositions of elementary dipole or quadrupole fields, starting with the familiar Rayleigh formulas for solutions to the scalar Helmholtz equation. An angular spectrum of vector plane waves is also derived, and the connection with the superposition integrals is explained. Finally, the application of Kirchhoff-type boundary conditions to either the Hertz potential or its normal derivative in the aperture plane is investigated. Applying boundary conditions directly to the potential instead of its derivative makes it simpler to use scalar theory techniques to treat problems involving incident waves with nonuniform amplitude and phase distributions, and therefore yields the most useful solutions.

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Thomas G. Kuper and Roland V. Shack "Plane Wave And Spread Function Decompositions In Vector Diffraction Theory", Proc. SPIE 0560, Diffraction Phenomena in Optical Engineering Applications, (10 May 1986); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.949610

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