Scattering of an electromagnetic wave from a planar waveguide structure with a slightly 2D random surface

Abstract This paper deals with the scattering of an electromagnetic (EM) wave from a waveguide structure with a slightly rough surface. The waveguide structure is a dielectric film on a planar, perfectly conductive surface, and the top of the film is a two-dimensional (2D) homogeneous Gaussian random surface. The treatment is based on the stochastic functional theory where the random EM field is represented in terms of a Wiener - Hermite functional of the random surface. Numerical calculations show that enhanced backscattering and cross-polarization occur, but that no enhanced satellite peak appears for a 2D random surface, in contrast to the case of a 1D surface. The enhanced backscattering is caused by the interference of two double-scattering processes and is attributed to the existence of guided waves in the scattering structure.