title: Effect of the imaginary part of the refractive index on light scattering by spheres.
abstract: For spheres of arbitrary radius R and complex index of refraction n+iκ, we identify a new parameter that indicates when the imaginary part κ seriously affects the scattering by a sphere. The parameter is κkR, where k is the wave vector magnitude, such that when κkR grows larger than one, the scattering is affected and, when κkR>3, the effects saturate. The effects are uncovered and demonstrated with Q-space analysis. The physical basis for κkR lies in the fact that it is the ratio of the radius to the optical skin depth.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Amitabha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Sorensen