Scattering of non-uniform incident fields by long cylinders

We investigate experimentally far-field scattering from cylinders with illumination non-uniform along the axis of the cylinder. Scattered intensity as a function of angle in two orthogonal directions is examined. Variation along the scattering angle is found to be little affected by the illumination profile. However, variation in the transverse direction follows closely the Fourier transform of the illumination pattern and reproduces the angular distribution of the incident wave. These finding apply to circular as well as hexagonal cross-section cylinders.