Analysis of rainbow scattering by a chiral sphere.

Based on the scattering theory of a chiral sphere, rainbow phenomenon of a chiral sphere is numerically analyzed in this paper. For chiral spheres illuminated by a linearly polarized wave, there are three first-order rainbows, with whose rainbow angles varying with the chirality parameter. The spectrum of each rainbow structure is presented and the ripple frequencies are found associated with the size and refractive indices of the chiral sphere. Only two rainbow structures remain when the chiral sphere is illuminated by a circularly polarized plane wave. Finally, the rainbows of chiral spheres with slight chirality parameters are found appearing alternately in E-plane and H-plane with the variation of the chirality.