Simulation of light scattering by a particle on a film-coated substrate using coupled-dipole method

The intensity of light scattered by a submicron particle on a film-coated semiconductor substrate is calculated as a function of the thickness of the film using the coupled-dipole method. The result of calculation reproduces the experimentally observed features, i.e., the oscillatory dependence of the scattering intensity on the thickness and the enhancement of the scattering intensity for very thin films. The enhancement is reproduced only when the dipole-dipole interaction between the particle and the substrate is included in the calculation. Using the method we propose, the scattering intensity can be calculated for an arbitrary size and shape of particle on an arbitrary thickness of film.