FINITE-DIFFERENCE TIME-DOMAIN COMPUTATION OF LIGHT-SCATTERING BY MULTIPLE COLLOIDAL PARTICLES

A finite difference time domain (FDTD) algorithm with nonstandard fini te differences is used to compute light scattering by colloidal partic les. The objective of this research is to simulate scattering for case s where multiparticle scattering is significant and where particle sha pe is arbitrary and not limited to regular geometries commonly illustr ated in mathematical solutions such as the Mie theory. in this paper s cattering characteristics computed using the FDTD method are compared with known analytical solutions for a number of cases for which a two- dimensional treatment is sufficient. These include scattering by a sin gle infinite cylinder, a hollow cylinder, and two parallel cylinders. The numerical results were found to agree well with the analytical sol utions. Results are also given for cases where multiparticle scatterin g is significant and analytical solutions are extremely difficult if n ot impossible to obtain.