Extinction and polarization of radiation by absorbing spheroids: shape/size effects and benchmark results

We use the separation of variables and T-matrix methods to calculate the optical properties of homogeneous spheroids with refractive indices from m = 1.3 + 0.0i up to 3 + 4i. It is found that the extinction cross-sections for highly absorbing spheroids are normally 1.5-2 times larger than those for spheres of the same volume. The albedo of the non-spherical particles rather slightly depends on the particle shape and is mainly determined by the imaginary part of the refractive index. Beginning at some size, the spheroidal particles do not polarize the transmitted radiation independent of their shape. We also suggest a new approach for axisymmetric particles which would combine the strong aspects of both methods mentioned above and give several values of the cross-sections as benchmarks in tabular form. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.