Scattering by multiple cylinders buried in a lossy half space at oblique incidence

•Developed solution for oblique incidence on cylinders in lossy half space.•Formulated depolarization and reflection of inhomogeneous scattered waves.•Derived electromagnetic fields and Poynting vector for backscattering.•Illustrated scattering by buried dissimilar cylinders at oblique incidence.

The scattering characteristics of an obstacle are a function of its size, shape, and refractive index, as well as the refractive index of the host medium. For two-dimensional scatterer such as an infinite cylinder, they are also dependent on the incidence direction. The scattering problem is two-dimensional if the incident wave propagates perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder, whereas the problem becomes three-dimensional when the incident direction is inclined from the cylinder axis. The latter case of oblique incidence at a lossy half space containing multiple infinite cylinders is treated in this paper. The theoretical treatment utilizes Hertz potentials to formulate the propagation of inhomogeneous waves in the lossy medium, reflection of depolarized scattered waves at the half space interface, and transmission of scattered waves from within the half space. Analytical formulas are derived for the electromagnetic fields and Poynting vector of the scattered radiation emerging from the half space. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate scattering by multiple dissimilar infinite cylinders buried in a lossy half space irradiated by an obliquely incident plane wave.