SCATTERING OF ELECTROMAGNETIC-WAVES ON UNEVEN SURFACES

This paper discusses the scattering of a plane wave on the uneven surf ace of an ideal conductor. Integral equations are derived for the scat tering amplitude in the framework of the Rayleigh hypothesis. The resu lts of a numerical experiment on scattering at a finite diffraction gr ating is compared with the values predicted by Kirchhoff's approximati on. The advantage of the Rayleigh hypothesis in the case of scattering at shallow irregularities is pointed out. (C) 1996 The Optical Societ y of America.