Front-end back scattering of highly conducting strips illuminated by a plane wave end-on

The scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave at the front end of rectangular highly conducting strips is studied. The method of solution applied is based on a variational formulation of the currents induced at the front end. Back-scattering cross-sections are calculated for thin strips of width up to 2¿. It is shown that the front-end back-scattering cross-section of thin conducting strips is in most cases larger than that from cylindrical wires of lengths equal to the widths of the strips. Practical results on current-distribution measurements are compared with theoretical ones, and it is found that theory and experiment agree better when the width of a strip is about one wavelength or smaller. It indicates that the method of attack could be applied to problems involving scattering from edges.