We present a generalization of the coupled dipole method to the scattering of
light by arbitrary periodic structures. This new formulation of the coupled
dipole method relies on the same direct-space discretization scheme that is
widely used to study the scattering of light by finite objects. Therefore, all
the knowledge acquired previously for finite systems can be transposed to the
study of periodic structures.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, and 1 tabl