Transient Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in Anisotropic Dispersive Media

In this paper transient electromagnetic wave propagation in a stratified, anisotropic, dispersive medium is considered. Specifically, the direct scattering problem is addressed. The dispersive, anisotropic medium is modeled by constitutive relations (a 3 × 3 matrix-valued susceptibility operator)con taining time convolution integrals. In the general case, nine different susceptibility kernels characterize the medium. An incident plane wave impinges obliquely on a finite slab consisting of a stratified anisotropic medium. The scattered fields are obtained as time convolutions of the incident field with the scattering kernels. The scattering (reflection and transmission)k ernels are uniquely determined by the slab and are independent of the incident field. The scattering problem is solved by a wave splitting technique. Two different methods to determine the scattering kernels are presented; an imbedding and a Green functions approach. Explicit analytic expressions of the wave front are given for a special class of media. Some numerical examples illustrate the analysis