The reconstruction of stratified dielectric profiles using successive approximations

The problem of reconstructing the one-dimensional refractive index profiles from electromagnetic reflection data is considered for lossless, dispersionless dielectrics. The Balanis integral equation is solved by the method of successive kernel approximation. Both continuous and discontinuous profile examples demonstrate the accuracy of this method by comparing and contrasting the results with those of a leapfrogging numerical solution and associated analytical results. The convergence criterion for this method is specified.