Light propagation and scattering in stratified media: a Green's tensor approach

We present a new technique for computing the electromagnetic field that pro pagates and is scattered in three-dimensional structures formed by bodies e mbedded in a stratified background. This fully vectorial technique is based on the Green's tensor associated with the stratified background. Its advan tage lies in the fact that only the scatterers must be discretized, the str atified background being accounted for in the Green's tensor. Further, the boundary conditions at the different material interfaces as well as at the edges of the computation window are perfectly and automatically fulfilled. Several examples illustrate the utilization of the technique for the modeli ng of photonic circuits (integrated optical waveguides), the study of the o ptics of metal (surface plasmons), and the development of new optical litho graphy techniques. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.