Interpretation of Perturbative Solution for the Scattering From Layered Structure With Rough Interfaces

In this paper the focus is on the intrinsic significance of the first-order perturbative scattering solution for the scattering from layered structures with an arbitrary number of rough interfaces. An exact analytic decomposition of the solution in terms of local interactions is carried out. Consequently, the suitably expanded solution can be expressed as an optical geometric series, where each term of the series is susceptible of a direct physical interpretation. Therefore, the obtained interpretation enables the global scattering phenomenon involved to be visualized as a superposition of local interactions, emphasizing the role of the interference effects in the structure as well. The interpretation opens the way to new techniques for solving the inverse problem, for designing SAR processing algorithms, and for modelling the time-domain response of complex layered structures.