Scattering from rough thin films: discrete-dipole-approximation simulations.

We investigate the wave-optical light scattering properties of deformed thin circular films of constant thickness using the discrete-dipole approximation. Effects on the intensity distribution of the scattered light due to different statistical roughness models, model dependent roughness parameters, and uncorrelated, random, small-scale porosity of the inhomogeneous medium are studied. The suitability of the discrete-dipole approximation for rough-surface scattering problems is evaluated by considering thin films as computationally feasible rough-surface analogs. The effects due to small-scale inhomogeneity of the scattering medium are compared with the analytic approximation by Maxwell Garnett, and the results are found to agree with the approximation.