[[Image:Maxwell1.png|right|720px]]
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<td>[[image:Cube-icon.png | link=Getting_Started_with_EM.CUBE]] [[image:cad-ico.png | link=CubeCAD]] [[image:fdtd-ico.png | link=EM.Tempo]] [[image:prop-ico.png | link=EM.Terrano]] [[image:static-ico.png | link=EM.Ferma]] [[image:planar-ico.png | link=EM.Picasso]] [[image:metal-ico.png | link=EM.Libera]] [[image:po-ico.png | link=EM.Illumina]] </td>
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== Conventional Physical Optics (GO-PO) ==
[[Image:po_manual_1.png|thumb|500px|A diagram showing a scatterer lit by a source.]]
The following analysis assumes a general impedance surface. To treat an object with an arbitrary geometry using PO, the object is first decomposed into many small elementary patches or cells, which have a simple geometry such as a rectangle or triangle. Then, using the tangent plane approximation, the electric and magnetic surface currents, '''J(r)''' and '''M(r)''', on the lit region of the scatterer are approximated by:
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Â
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<td> [[Image:po_manual_1.png|thumb|500px|A diagram showing a scatterer lit by a source.]] </td>
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Two limiting cases of an impedance surface are perfect electric conductor (PEC) and perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) surface. For a PEC surface, Z = 0, α = 1, and one can write: