AbstractIn this letter, electromagnetic scattering by nonlinear dielectric cylinders under transverse magnetic illumination is considered. The nonlinearity is assumed to be so weak as to allow the application of an iterative approach based on the distorted‐wave Born approximation. The bistatic and back‐scattering radar cross sections per unit length are computed. The key feature of the Letter is the use of nonlinearities represented by models different from previously assumed Kerr‐like ones. In particular, we consider nonlinearities that are of the saturated and are characterized by power laws. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.