Evaluation of dielectric physical optics in electromagnetic scattering

The theoretical basis, relative accuracy, and limitations of dielectric PO (physical optics) are discussed. Example calculations are compared with numerically exact results obtained using the moment method in order to determine the accuracy of the PO approximation for several canonical problems. The example calculations indicate that dielectric PO provides surprisingly good results for thin dielectric sheets. This method is very useful for situations involving relatively large curved dielectric shells provided multiple reflection effects are taken into account. The most significant inherent limitation involves grazing incidence.<>