Abstract

We give a treatment of plane waves of arbitrary polarization and angle of incidence impinging on penetrable material whose regions of constant electromagnetic properties are separated by parallel planes. We show how to recover the thickness of the layers and their electromagnetic properties from the scattered radiation. Extremely simple formulas are given for recovering layer properties and for determinants and inverses of 4 by 4 matrices relating representations of electromagnetic fields in adjacent layers. This recovery, while impossible with normally incident radiation, is possible when one uses a continuum of incident radiation angles. We give a means of recovering dielectric and magnetic properties of a penetrable layered material nondestructively by using scattered electromagnetic radiation.

© 1996 Optical Society of America

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