Epuiphase-sphere approximation for analysis of light scattering by arbitrarily shaped nonspherical particles

We extend the previously proposed concept of equiphase sphere (EPS) to analyze light-scattering properties of arbitrarily shaped particles. Our analyses based on the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin technique and numerical studies based on the finite-difference time-domain method demonstrate that a wide range of irregularly shaped particles can be approximated as their equivalent equiphase ellipsoids to determine their total scattering cross-section (TSCS) spectra. As a result, a simple expression given by the EPS approximation can be used to calculate the TSCS spectra of these particles. We find that the accuracy of the EPS approximation is influenced by both the magnitude and the geometric scale of the surface perturbation of the particle, and we derive validity conditions of the EPS approximation to guide the practical application of this method. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.