Optical resonances and two-sphere systems.

After a historical review of previous research into cooperative scattering, a theoretical investigation of the effects of interparticle coupling on morphology-dependent resonances of spheres is conducted. Bispheres composed of identical, slightly dissimilar, and very different monomers are considered. Calculations are presented of resonance spectra for selected orientations of the bispheres relative to the incident wave vector along with spectra that should prove useful in describing the scattering properties of a monodisperse ensemble of randomly oriented bispheres. (The bispheres in this dispersion may be constituted from dissimilar monomers.) Normalized source functions for regions inside and near the scatterers are also provided. Finally a numerical simulation of an interesting experiment is carried out in which a resonating aerosol passes through the focal volume of a relatively large, spherical microlens.