Abstract

A new approach to the classical problem of diffraction by a circular aperture is given by applying an expansion of the spherical wave into cylindrical waves. The diffracted field appears as a superposition of evanescent and outgoing cylindrical waves in the geometrical shadow zone, whereas in the geometrical illuminated zone what one obtains is the incident field plus a sum of standing and evanescent cylindrical waves. In the limit of great distances from the screen the well-known expression for Fraunhofer diffraction is reobtained.

© 1987 Optical Society of America

Electromagnetic theory of diffraction by a circular aperture in a thick, perfectly conducting screen

A. Roberts
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 4(10) 1970-1983 (1987)

Diffraction by a Circular Aperture

Russell W. Dunham
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 54(9) 1102-1105 (1964)

Diffraction by a circular aperture: a generalization of Fresnel diffraction theory

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Single-scattering theory of light diffraction by a circular subwavelength aperture in a finitely conducting screen

Evgeny Popov, Michel Nevière, Anne Sentenac, Nicolas Bonod, Anne-Laure Fehrembach, Jérôme Wenger, Pierre-François Lenne, and Hervé Rigneault
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 24(2) 339-358 (2007)

Scalar beam diffraction by a wide circular aperture

G. A. Suedan and E. V. Jull
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 5(10) 1629-1634 (1988)