Vectorial spherical-harmonics representation of an inhomogeneous elliptically polarized plane wave

In this paper, a generalization of the vectorial spherical-harmonics expansion of an inhomogeneous elliptically polarized plane wave is presented. The solution has been achieved using the Legendre functions generalized via hypergeometric and gamma functions, shifting the difficulty to the determination of only expansion coefficients. In order to validate the presented method, a Matlab code has been implemented. To compare the results a Mie scattering by a sphere is considered, then a truncation criterion for the numerical evaluation of the series is proposed, and the Mie scattering coefficients by perfectly conducting and dielectric spheres excited by an inhomogeneous elliptically polarized plane wave are shown. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America