Equivalent volume-averaged light scattering behavior of randomly inhomogeneous dielectric spheres in the resonant range

Finite-difference time-domain numerical experiments and supporting analyses demonstrate that the spectral dependence of the total scattering cross sections of randomly inhomogeneous dielectric spheres of sizes in the resonant range closely resemble those of their homogeneous counterparts that have a volume-averaged refractive index. This result holds even for the extreme case in which the refractive index within an inhomogeneous sphere varies randomly over the range 1.0-2.0. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.