UNITIV

Waveequationsforconducting&perfectdielectricmedia
Uniformplanewaves&relationsb/wE&Handsinusoidalvariations
Wavepropagation:Inlosslessandconductingmedia
polarization
Wavepropagation:Ingoodconductorsandgooddielectrics

Waveequations:
TheMaxwell'sequationsinthedifferentialform

Letusconsiderasourcefreeuniformmediumhavingdielectricconstant ,magnetic
permeability andconductivity .Theabovesetofequationscanbewrittenas

Usingthevectoridentity,

Wecanwritefrom2

Substituting

from1

Butinsourcefree(

)medium(eq3)

Inthesamemannerforequationeqn1


Since

fromeqn4,wecanwrite

Thesetwoequations

areknownaswaveequations.

Uniform plane waves:

A uniform plane wave is a particular solution of Maxwell's equation
assuming electric field (and magnetic field) has same magnitude and phase in infinite planes
perpendicular to the direction of propagation. It may be noted that in the strict sense a uniform
plane wave doesn't exist in practice as creation of such waves are possible with sources of
infinite extent. However, at large distances from the source, the wavefront or the surface of the
constant phase becomes almost spherical and a small portion of this large sphere can be
considered to plane. The characteristics of plane waves are simpleandusefulforstudyingmany
practicalscenarios

Letusconsider aplane wavewhichhasonly

E
z
.Sincetheplane
xcomponentandpropagating along

wavewillhavenovariationalongtheplaneperpendiculartoz

i.e.,
xy
plane,

.TheHelmholtz'sequationreducesto,

.........................................................................(1)

Thesolutiontothisequationcanbewrittenas

............................................................(2)

aretheamplitudeconstants(canbedeterminedfromboundaryconditions).

Inthetimedomain,

.............................(3)

assuming

arerealconstants.

Here,
representstheforwardtravelingwave.Theplotof
severalvaluesoftisshownintheFigurebelow

for

Figure:Planewavetravelinginthe+
z
direction

Ascanbeseenfromthefigure,atsuccessivetimes,thewavetravelsinthe+zdirection.
Ifwefixourattentiononaparticularpointorphaseonthewave(asshownbythedot)i.e.,
constant

Thenweseethatas
t
isincreasedto

,zalsoshouldincreaseto

sothat

Or,

Or,

When

wewrite

=phasevelocity

.....................................(4)

Ifthemediuminwhichthewaveispropagatingisfreespacei.e.,

Then

Where'
C
'isthespeedoflight.ThatisplaneEMwavetravelsinfreespacewiththespeedoflight.

Thewavelength
referencepoints).

isdefinedasthedistancebetweentwosuccessivemaxima(orminimaoranyother

i.e.,

Substituting

or,

or,

or,

Thuswavelength

................................(5)

alsorepresentsthedistancecoveredinoneoscillationofthewave.Similarly,
representsaplanewavetravelinginthezdirection.

Theassociatedmagneticfieldcanbefoundasfollows:

From(6.4),

............(6)

where
istheintrinsicimpedanceofthemedium.

Whenthewavetravelsinfreespace

istheintrinsicimpedanceofthefreespace.

Inthetimedomain,

...........(7)
Whichrepresentsthemagneticfieldofthewavetravelinginthe+zdirection.
Forthenegativetravelingwave,

...........(8)
Fortheplanewavesdescribed,boththeE&Hfieldsareperpendiculartothedirectionofpropagation,and
thesewavesarecalledTEM(transverseelectromagnetic)waves.

The
E
&
H
fieldcomponentsofaTEMwaveisshowninFigbelow

Figure:E&Hfieldsofaparticularplanewaveattimet.
PoyntingVectorandPowerFlowinElectromagneticFields:
Electromagneticwavescantransportenergyfromonepointtoanotherpoint.Theelectricandmagneticfield
intensitiesasscociatedwithatravellingelectromagneticwavecanberelatedtotherateofsuchenergy
transfer.
LetusconsiderMaxwell'sCurlEquations:

Usingvectoridentity

theabovecurlequationswecanwrite

.............................................(1)
Insimplemediumwhere

and

areconstant,wecanwrite

and


ApplyingDivergencetheoremwecanwrite,

...........................(2)

Theterm

representstherateofchangeofenergystoredintheelectricand

magneticfieldsandtheterm
representsthepowerdissipationwithinthevolume.Henceright
handsideoftheequation(6.36)representsthetotaldecreaseinpowerwithinthevolumeunder
consideration.

Thelefthandsideofequation(6.36)canbewrittenas
where
2
(W/mt
)iscalledthePoyntingvectoranditrepresentsthepowerdensityvectorassociatedwiththe
electromagneticfield.TheintegrationofthePoyntingvectoroveranyclosedsurfacegivesthenetpower
flowingoutofthesurface.Equation(6.36)isreferredtoasPoyntingtheoremanditstatesthatthenetpower
flowingoutofagivenvolumeisequaltothetimerateofdecreaseintheenergystoredwithinthevolume
minustheconductionlosses.
Poyntingvectorforthetimeharmoniccase:
Fortimeharmoniccase,thetimevariationisoftheform

,andwehaveseenthatinstantaneousvalue

ofaquantityistherealpartoftheproductofaphasorquantityand
Forexample,ifweconsiderthephasor

when

thenwecanwritetheinstanteneousfieldas

.................................(1)
when
E
0isreal.

LetusconsidertwoinstanteneousquantitiesAandBsuchthat
..................(2)

whereAandBarethephasorquantities.
i.e,

isusedasreference.

Therefore,

..............................(3)

Since
A
and
B
areperiodicwithperiod
by

,thetimeaveragevalueoftheproductformAB,denoted

canbewrittenas

.....................................(4)
Further,consideringthephasorquantities
A
and
B
,wefindthat

and

,where*denotescomplexconjugate.

..............................................(5)

Thepoyntingvector

canbeexpressedas

...................................(6)
Ifweconsideraplaneelectromagneticwavepropagatingin+zdirectionandhasonly
(6.42)wecanwrite:

component,from

Using(6)

........................................(7)
where

and

Forageneralcase,wecanwrite

,fortheplanewaveunderconsideration.

.....................(8)
WecandefineacomplexPoyntingvector

andtimeaverageoftheinstantaneousPoyntingvectorisgivenby

Polarisationofplanewave:
Thepolarisationofaplanewavecanbedefinedastheorientationofthe
electricfieldvectorasafunctionoftimeatafixedpointinspace.Foranelectromagneticwave,the
specificationoftheorientationoftheelectricfieldissufficentasthemagneticfieldcomponentsarerelatedto
electricfieldvectorbytheMaxwell'sequations.
Letusconsideraplanewavetravellinginthe+zdirection.ThewavehasbothE
andE
components.
x
y

..........................................(1)
Thecorrespondingmagneticfieldsaregivenby,

Dependinguponthevaluesof
E
E
oxand

oywecanhaveseveralpossibilities:

1.If
E
x
direction.
oy=0,thenthewaveislinearlypolarisedinthe

2.If
E
y
direction.
oy=0,thenthewaveislinearlypolarisedinthe

3.If
E
E
oxand

oyarebothreal(orcomplexwithequalphase),onceagainwegetalinearlypolarisedwave

withtheaxisofpolarisationinclinedatanangle
below

,withrespecttothexaxis.Thisisshowninfig1


Fig1:LinearPolarisation
4.If
Eox
and
Eoy
arecomplexwithdifferentphaseangles,
isexplainedasfollows:

willnotpointtoasinglespatialdirection.This

Let

Then,

and

....................................(2)

Tokeepthethingssimple,letusconsidera=0and
fieldonthez=0plain.

.Further,letusstudythenatureoftheelectric

Fromequation(2)wefindthat,

.....................................(3)

andtheelectricfieldvectoratz=0canbewrittenas

.............................................(4)


Assuming

,theplotof

forvariousvaluesoftishowninfigure2

Figure2:Plotof
E
(
o
,
t
)

Fromequation(6.47)andfigure(6.5)weobservethatthetipofthearrowrepresentingelectricfieldvector
tracesqnellipseandthefieldissaidtobeellipticallypolarised.

Figure3:Polarisationellipse
Thepolarisationellipseshowninfigure3isdefinedbyitsaxialratio(M/N,theratioofsemimajorto
semiminoraxis),tiltangle
(orientationwithrespecttoxaxis)andsenseofrotation(i.e.,CWorCCW).
Linearpolarisationcanbetreatedasaspecialcaseofellipticalpolarisation,forwhichtheaxialratiois
infinite.
Inourexample,if
,fromequationthetipofthearrowrepresentingelectricfieldvectortraces
outacircle.SuchacaseisreferredtoasCircularPolarisation.Forcircularpolarisationtheaxialratioisunity


Figure5:CircularPolarisation(RHCP)
Further,thecircularpolarisationisasidetoberighthandedcircularpolarisation(RHCP)iftheelectricfield
vectorrotatesinthedirectionofthefingersoftherighthandwhenthethumbpointsinthedirectionof
propagation(sameandCCW).Iftheelectricfieldvectorrotatesintheoppositedirection,thepolarisationis
asidtobelefthandcircularpolarisation(LHCP)(sameasCW).InAMradiobroadcast,theradiated
electromagneticwaveislinearlypolarisedwiththe
fieldverticaltotheground(verticalpolarisation)where
asTVsignalsarehorizontallypolarisedwaves.FMbroadcastisusuallycarriedoutusingcircularlypolarised
waves.Inradiocommunication,differentinformationsignalscanbetransmittedatthesamefrequencyat
orthogonalpolarisation(onesignalasverticallypolarisedotherhorizontallypolarisedoroneasRHCPwhile
theotherasLHCP)toincreasecapacity.Otherwise,samesignalcanbetransmittedatorthogonal
polarisationtoobtaindiversitygaintoimprovereliabilityoftransmission.
BehaviourofPlanewavesattheintefaceoftwomedia:
Wehaveconsideredthepropagationofuniform
planewavesinanunboundedhomogeneousmedium.Inpractice,thewavewillpropagateinbounded
regionswhereseveralvaluesof
willbepresent.Whenplanewavetravellinginonemediummeetsa
differentmedium,itispartlyreflectedandpartlytransmitted.Inthissection,weconsiderwavereflectionand
transmissionatplanarboundarybetweentwomedia.

Fig6:NormalIncidenceataplaneboundary
Case1:
Letz=0planerepresenttheinterfacebetweentwomedia.Medium1ischaracterisedby
andmedium2ischaracterizedby

.Letthesubscripts'
i
'denotesincident,'
r
'

denotesreflectedand'
t
'denotestransmittedfieldcomponentsrespectively.

Theincidentwaveisassumedtobeaplanewavepolarizedalong
x
andtravellinginmedium1along
direction.Fromequation(6.24)wecanwrite
..................(1)

......................(2)

where

and

Becauseofthepresenceofthesecondmediumat
z
=0,theincidentwavewillundergopartialreflectionand
partialtransmission.Thereflectedwavewilltravelalong

inmedium1.

Thereflectedfieldcomponentsare:
...............................................(3)

.........(4)
Thetransmittedwavewilltravelinmedium2along

forwhichthefieldcomponentsare

............................................(5)

............................................(6)

where

and

Inmedium1,
and

andinmedium2,
and

Applyingboundaryconditionsattheinterfacez=0,i.e.,continuityoftangentialfieldcomponentsandnoting
thatincident,reflectedandtransmittedfieldcomponentsaretangentialattheboundary,wecanwrite

&

Fromequation3to6weget,
................................................................(7)

..............................................................(8)
Eliminating
E
to,

or,

or,

...............(8)

iscalledthereflectioncoefficient.
Fromequation(8),wecanwrite

or,

........................................(9)
iscalledthetransmissioncoefficient.
Weobservethat,

........................................(10)
Thefollowingmaybenoted
(i)both
(ii)

andTaredimensionlessandmaybecomplex

Letusnowconsiderspecificcases:
CaseI:Normalincidenceonaplaneconductingboundary
Themedium1isperfectdielectric

andmedium2isperfectlyconducting

From(9)and(10)
=1
andT=0
Hencethewaveisnottransmittedtomedium2,itgetsreflectedentirelyfromtheinterfacetothemedium1.

&

.................................(11)

Proceedinginthesamemannerforthemagneticfieldinregion1,wecanshowthat,

...................................................................................(12)
Thewaveinmedium1thusbecomesa
standingwave
duetothesuperpositionofaforwardtravelling
waveandabackwardtravellingwave.Foragiven
't'
,both
measuredfromz=0.Thisisshowninfigure6.9.

and

varysinusoidallywithdistance


Figure7:Generationofstandingwave
Zeroesof
E
(z,t)
andMaximaof
H
(
z,t
).
1
1
Maximaof
E
)andzeroesof
H
,
t
).
1(
z,t
1(
z

Case2:Normalincidenceonaplanedielectricboundary
:Ifthemedium2isnotaperfectconductor
(i.e.
)partialreflectionwillresult.Therewillbeareflectedwaveinthemedium1andatransmitted
waveinthemedium2.Becauseofthereflectedwave,standingwaveisformedinmedium1.
Fromequation(10)andequation(13)wecanwrite
..................(14)
Letusconsiderthescenariowhenboththemediaaredissipationlessi.e.perfectdielectrics(
)

..................(15)

Inthiscaseboth

and

becomerealnumbers.

..................(16)
From(6.61),wecanseethat,inmedium1wehaveatravelingwavecomponentwithamplitudeTE
anda
io
standingwavecomponentwithamplitude2JE
.Thelocationofthemaximumandtheminimumofthe
io
electricandmagneticfieldcomponentsinthemedium1fromtheinterfacecanbefoundasfollows.The
electricfieldinmedium1canbewrittenas
..................(17)
i.e.

If

>0

Themaximumvalueoftheelectricfieldis
..................(18)
andthisoccurswhen

or

,n=0,1,2,3.......................(19)

Theminimumvalueof

is
.................(20)

Andthisoccurswhen

or
For

i.e.

<0

Themaximumvalueof
is

,n=0,1,2,3.............................(21)

is

whichoccursatthez
locationsandtheminimumvalueof
min

whichoccursatz
locationsasgivenbytheequations(6.64)and(6.66).
max

Fromourdiscussionssofarweobservethat

canbewrittenas

.................(22)
Thequantity
S
iscalledasthestandingwaveratio.
As

therangeof
S
isgivenby

From(6.62),wecanwritetheexpressionforthemagneticfieldinmedium1as

.................(23)
From(6.68)wefindthat
willbemaximumatlocationswhere
Inmedium2,thetransmittedwavepropagatesinthe+zdirection.

isminimumandviceversa.

ObliqueIncidenceofEMwaveataninterface:
Sofarwehavediscussthecaseofnormalincidence
whereelectromagneticwavetravelinginalosslessmediumimpingesnormallyattheinterfaceofasecond
medium.Inthissectionweshallconsiderthecaseofobliqueincidence.Asbefore,weconsidertwocases
i.Whenthesecondmediumisaperfectconductor.
ii.Whenthesecondmediumisaperfectdielectric.
Aplaneincidenceisdefinedastheplanecontainingthevectorindicatingthedirectionofpropagationofthe
incidentwaveandnormaltotheinterface.Westudytwospecificcaseswhentheincidentelectricfield
perpendiculartotheplaneofincidence(perpendicularpolarization)and
isparalleltotheplaneof
incidence(parallelpolarization).Forageneralcase,theincidentwavemayhavearbitrarypolarizationbut
thesamecanbeexpressedasalinearcombinationofthesetwoindividualcases.
ObliqueIncidenceataplaneconductingboundary
i.PerpendicularPolarization
Thesituationisdepictedinfigure8.

Figure8:PerpendicularPolarization

is

AstheEMfieldinsidetheperfectconductoriszero,theinterfacereflectstheincidentplanewave.

and

respectivelyrepresenttheunitvectorinthedirectionofpropagationoftheincidentandreflectedwaves,
istheangleofincidenceand

istheangleofreflection.

Wefindthat

............................(24)
Sincetheincidentwaveisconsideredtobeperpendiculartotheplaneofincidence,whichforthepresent
casehappenstobexzplane,theelectricfieldhasonlyycomponent.

Therefore,

Thecorrespondingmagneticfieldisgivenby

...........................(25)
Similarly,wecanwritethereflectedwavesas

...................................................(26)
Sinceattheinterfacez=o,thetangentialelectricfieldiszero.
............................................(27)
Considerinequation(6.72)issatisfiedifwehave

..................................(28)
Thecondition

isSnell'slawofreflection.
..................................(29)

..................................(30)

Thetotalelectricfieldisgivenby

..................................(31)
Similarly,totalmagneticfieldisgivenby

.............................(32)
Fromeqns(31)and(32)weobservethat
1.

Alongzdirectioni.e.normaltotheboundary
ycomponentof
and

andxcomponentof

where

.Noaveragepowerpropagatesalongzasycomponentof

andxcomponentof
2.

maintainstandingwavepatternsaccordingto

areoutofphase.

Alongxi.e.paralleltotheinterface
ycomponentof
phasevelocity

andzcomponentof

areinphase(bothtimeandspace)andpropagatewith

.............................(33)
Thewavepropagatingalongthexdirectionhasitsamplitudevaryingwithzandhenceconstitutesa
non
uniform
planewave.Further,onlyelectricfield
isperpendiculartothedirectionofpropagation(i.e.x),
themagneticfieldhascomponentalongthedirectionofpropagation.Suchwavesarecalledtransverse
electricorTEwaves.
ii.

ParallelPolarization
:

Inthiscasealso

and

aregivenbyequations(6.69).Here

and

haveonlyycomponent.

Figure9:ParallelPolarization
Withreferencetofig9:thefieldcomponentscanbewrittenas:
Incidentfieldcomponents:

............................(34)

Reflectedfieldcomponents:

............................(35)
Sincethetotaltangentialelectricfieldcomponentattheinterfaceiszero.

Whichleadsto

and

asbefore.

Substitutingthesequantitiesin(6.79)andaddingtheincidentandreflectedelectricandmagneticfield
componentsthetotalelectricandmagneticfieldscanbewrittenas

...........................(36)
Onceagain,wefindastandingwavepatternalongzforthexandycomponentsof

and

,whileanon

uniformplanewavepropagatesalongxwithaphasevelocitygivenby
where
.
Since,forthispropagatingwave,magneticfieldisintransversedirection,suchwavesarecalledtransverse
magneticorTMwaves.
Obliqueincidenceataplanedielectricinterface:
Wecontinueourdiscussiononthebehaviorofplane
wavesataninterfacethistimeweconsideraplanedielectricinterface.Asearlier,weconsiderthetwo
specificcases,namelyparallelandperpendicularpolarization.


Forthecaseofaplanedielectricinterface,anincidentwavewillbereflectedpartiallyandtransmitted
partially.InFig(6.12),
transmission.
1.

correspondsrespectivelytotheangleofincidence,reflectionand

ParallelPolarization:
Asdiscussedpreviously,theincidentandreflectedfield
componentscanbewrittenas

..........................(37)

..........................(38)

Intermsofthereflectioncoefficient

..........................(39)
Thetransmittedfiledcanbewrittenintermsofthetransmissioncoefficient
T

..........................(40)
Wecannowenforcethecontinuityoftangentialfieldcomponentsattheboundaryi.e.
z=0

..........................(41)
Ifboth

and

aretobecontinuousat
z=0
forall
x
,thenformthephasematchingwehave

Wefindthat

..........................(42)
Further,fromequations(6.86)and(6.87)wehave

..........................(43)

or

..........................(44)

..........................(45)
Fromequation(6.90)wefindthatthereexistsspecificangle

forwhich

=0

suchthat

or

.........................(46)

Further,

.........................(47)

Fornonmagneticmaterial
Usingthiscondition

.........................(48)
Fromequation(6.93),solvingfor

weget

Thisangleofincidenceforwhich

=0

iscalledBrewsterangle.Sincewearedealingwithparallel

polarizationwerepresentthisangleby

sothat

2.

PerpendicularPolarization

Forthiscase

.........................(49)

.........................(50)

.........................(51)

Usingcontinuityoffieldcomponentsat
z=0

.........................(52)
Asinthepreviouscase

.........................(53)
Usingtheseconditionswecanwrite

.........................(54)
Fromequation(6.99)thereflectionandtransmissioncoefficientsfortheperpendicularpolarizationcanbe
computedas

.........................(55)
Weobservethatif

=0

foranangleofincidence

Again

or

or

or

.........................(56)

Weobserveif
i.e.inthiscaseofnonmagneticmaterialBrewsterangledoesnotexistasthe
denominatororequation(6.101)becomeszero.Thusforperpendicularpolarizationindielectricmedia,there
isBrewsteranglesothat

canbemadeequaltozero.

Fromourpreviousdiscussionweobservethatforbothpolarizations

If

For

Theincidenceangle

forwhich

i.e.

iscalledthecriticalangleofincidence.If

theangleofincidenceislargerthan
totalinternalreflectionoccurs.Forsuchcaseanevanescentwave
existsalongtheinterfaceinthexdirection(w.r.t.fig(6.12))thatattenuatesexponentiallyinthenormali.e.z
direction.Suchwavesaretightlyboundtotheinterfaceandarecalledsurfacewaves.

Solvedexamples:

1.

ThemagneticfieldcomponentofanEMwavepropagatingthroughanonmagneticdielectric
mediumisgivenby

Determinethepermittivityofthemediumandtheelectricfieldintensity.

Solution:

Thedielectricconstantofthemedium=81

2.

Aplanewavetravellingalong+zdirectionisincidentnormallyonaperfectconductingwallat
z=0.Thereflectedfieldisgivenby

(a)Determinetheincidentfieldanditspolarisation.
(b)Determinethecurrentdensityinducedontheconductingwall.
Solution:
Tangentialcomponentoftheelectricfieldiszeroonametallicwall.

and

Atz=0

Itrepresentsarighthandcircularlypolarizedwave.

Figure
(b)Atz=0

3.

Themagneticfieldcomponentofaplanewaveinalosslessnonmagneticdielectricmediumis

givenby

Determine
(a)Wavelengthandwavevelocity
(b)Electricfieldcomponentandpolarizationofthewave.
Solution:

(a)

(b)

Also

Thisisalinearlypolarizedwavetravellingalongx.

Questions:

Bits:
1.

ForauniformplanewavepropagatinginxdirectionE
=
0
andH
=
0
x
x

2.

Intrinsicimpedanceofamediumis

3.

Attenuationconstantinfreespaceis
zero

4.

Phaseconstantinfreespaceis

5.

Phasevelocityoffreespaceisv
=
p

6.

Attenuationconstantingoodconductorsis

7.

Depthofpenetrationis

8.

ComplexpointingvectorisE

9.

Inacircularpolarization
,E

and
E
componentshavethesamemagnitude
x
y

10.

Powerdensityisrepresentedby
pointingvector

11.

Unitofpropagationconstantis
m1

12.

Horrizontalpolarizationissaidtobe
linearpolarization.

13.

Brewsterangleisgivenby

14.

IftheDepthofpenetrationofaplanewaveinamediamis2mm,theattenuationconstant

H*(yes/
no
)

3 1
is
0.5x10
m

0.2rad/m

15.

If

16.

WhenanEMwaveisincidentonaperfectconductornormally,standingwavesare
produced

17.

ThevelocityofEMwaveis
inverselyproportionalto

18.

ThedirectionpropagationofEMwaveisobtainedby
E H

19.

Uniformplanewaveis
transverse
innature

ComplexpointingvectorPis