PLANE WAVE PROPAGATION AND REFLECTION

David R. Jackson
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4793
Abstract
The basic properties of plane waves propagating in a homogeneous isotropic region are
reviewed, for both lossy and lossless media. These basic properties include the nature of the
electric and magnetic fields, the properties of the wavenumber vector, and the power flow of the
plane wave. Special attention is given to the specific case of a homogenous (uniform) plane
wave, i.e., one having real direction angles, since this case is most often met in practice (for
example, in the far-field of an antenna). Properties such as wavelength, phase and group velocity,
penetration depth, and polarization are discussed for these plane waves.

The theory of reflection of plane waves from layered media is then discussed in a unified
manner, using a transmission line model called the transverse equivalent network. This method
decomposes the incident plane wave into TM and TE parts, and models each separately using a
transmission line equivalent circuit. Basic reflection phenomena such as the law of reflection,
Snells law and the Brewster angle effect come directly from this model. More involved
reflection problems are also easily treated using this approach. As an example, the reflected and
transmitted fields due to a circular-polarized wave incident on the surface of the ocean are
calculated.

1. INTRODUCTION
Planes waves are the simplest solution of Maxwells equations in a homogeneous region of
space, such as free-space (vacuum). In spite of their simplicity, plane waves have played an
important role throughout the development of electromagnetics, starting from the time of the
earliest radio transmissions through the development of modern communications systems. Plane
waves are important for several reasons. First, the far-field radiation from any transmitting
antenna has the characteristics of a plane wave sufficiently far from the antenna. The incoming
wavefield impinging on a receiving antenna can therefore usually be approximated as a plane
wave. Second, the exact field radiated by any source in a region of space can be constructed in
terms of a continuous spectrum of plane waves via the Fourier transform. Understanding the
nature of plane waves is thus important for understanding both the far-field and the exact
radiation from sources.

The theory of plane wave reflection from layered media is also a well-developed area, and
relatively simple expressions suffice for understanding reflection and transmission effects when
layers are present. Problems involving reflections from the earth or sea, for example, are easily
treated using plane-wave theory. Even when the incident wavefront is actually spherical is shape,
as from a transmitting antenna, plane-wave theory may often be approximately used with
accurate results.
Throughout this article, it will be assumed that the regions of interest are homogeneous
(the material properties are constant) and isotropic, which covers most cases of practical interest.

2. BASIC PROPERTIES OF A PLANE WAVE

Definition of a plane wave
The most general definition of a plane wave is an electromagnetic field having the form

E = E0 x , y , z

H = H0 x, y, z

(1)

(2)

where E0 and H0 are constant vectors, and the wavefunction is defined as

x, y, z = e

j kx x +k y y +kz z

= e jk r

(3)

k = x! k x + y! k y + z!k z = j

(4)

r = x!x + y!y + z!z ,

(5)

where

with kx, ky, and kz being complex constants that define a wavenumber vector k. (A time-harmonic
jt
dependence of e is assumed and suppressed.) The vector E0 defines the polarization of the

plane wave. The real and imaginary parts of the wavenumber vector k define the phase vector

and an attenuation vector .

The phase vector has units of radians/meter and gives the

direction of most rapid phase change, while the attenuation vector has units of nepers/meter and
gives the direction of most rapid attenuation. The magnitude of the phase vector gives the phase
change per unit length along the direction of the phase vector, while the magnitude of the
attenuation vector determines the rate of attenuation along the direction of the attenuation vector.

Basic properties
In a homogeneous lossless space a plane wave must satisfy Maxwells equations, which in the
time-harmonic form are [1]

H = j E

(6)

E = j H

(7)

E = 0

(8)

H = 0

(9)

where and are the permittivity and permeability of the space. For free space, = 0 and
=0 , where 0 is defined to be 4 10-7 Henry/meter and 0 is determined from the defined
velocity of light (or any plane wave) in vacuum [2], c = 2.99792458 108 meters/second, since

c = 1 / 0 0 . This gives the approximate value 0 = 8.85418781762039 10-12 Farads/meter.

A lossy medium can be modeled using a complex effective permittivity, accounting for
conduction loss and/or polarization loss [1]. The complex effective permittivity is expressed as

= ! j

FG IJ .
HK

(10)

In this equation ! is the complex permittivity of the material, accounting for polarization loss (if
any), and is the conductivity of the medium.

Taking the curl of Eq. (7) and then substituting in Eq. (6) gives the vector wave equation

E k 2E = 0 ,

(11)

where k is the (possibly complex) wavenumber defined by

k = k ' jk ' ' = ,

(12)
4

with the square root chosen so that k lies in the fourth quadrant on the complex plane. Using the
definition of the vector Laplacian,

b g

2 E E E ,

(13)

and the fact that the divergence of the electric field is zero for a time-harmonic field in a
homogeneous region [1], results in the vector Helmholtz equation
2 E + k 2 E = 0 .

(14)

In rectangular coordinates, the vector Laplacian is expressed as

2 E = x! 2 E x + y! 2 E y + z! 2 E z .

(15)

Hence, all three rectangular components of the electric field satisfy the scalar Helmholtz
equation
2 + k 2 = 0

(16)

in a homogeneous region.

Substituting Eq. (3) into Eq. (16) gives the result

k x2 + k y2 + k z2 = k 2

or

k k = k2 .

(17)

This is the separation equation that relates the components of the wavenumber vector k
2

defined in Eq. (4). Note that the term on the left side of Eq. (17) is not in general equal to k ,
since k may be complex.

Other fundamental relations for a plane wave may be found by substituting Eq. (1) and (2)
into Maxwells equations (6)-(9). Noting that jk for a plane wave, Maxwells equations
reduce to

k H = E

(18)

k E = H

(19)

k E = 0

(20)

k H = 0.

(21)

Equations (18) and (19) each imply that E H = 0 , and together they also imply that k E = 0
and k H = 0 . That is, all three vectors

k , E,

and H are mutually orthogonal. Another

interesting property that is true for any plane wave, which may be derived directly from Eq. (18)
or (19), is that

E E = 2 H H ,

(22)

where is the intrinsic impedance of the space (possibly complex), defined from

(23)

(the principle branch of the square root is chosen so that the real part of is nonnegative). For
vacuum, the intrinsic impedance is often denoted as 0, and has a value of approximately
376.7303 .

Power flow
The complex Poynting vector for a plane wave, giving the complex power flow, is (assuming
peak notation for phasors)

S=

1
E H*.
2

(24)

Using Eq. (19), the Poynting vector for a plane wave can be written as

S=

1
2

E0 k * E0* .

(25)

g b g b g

Using the triple product rule A B C = A C B A B C , this can be rewritten as

S=

1
2

E0 k *

1
2

e E k jE .
0

*
0

(26)

The second term in the above equation is not always zero for an arbitrary plane wave, even
though E0 k = 0 , since k may be complex in the most general case. If either k or E0 is
proportional to a real vector (i.e., all of the components of the vector have the same phase angle),
then it is easily demonstrated that the second term vanishes. In this case the Poynting vector
becomes

S=

1
2

E0 k * .

(27)

If the medium is also lossless ( is real), the time-average power flow (coming from the real part
of the complex Poynting vector) is in the direction of the phase vector . A similar derivation,
casting the Poynting vector in terms of the H 0 vector, yields

S=

1
2

H0 k ,

(28)

provided either k or H 0 is proportional to a real vector. If the region is lossless ( is real), the
time-average power flow is then in the direction of the phase vector. Hence, for a lossless region,
the time-average power flow is in the direction of the phase vector if any of the three vectors

k, E0 , or H 0 is proportional to a real vector. In many practical cases of interest, one of the

three vectors will be proportional to a real vector, and hence the conclusion will be valid.
However, it is always possible to find exceptions, even for free space. One such example is the
plane

wave

defined

gb

by

the

vectors

b g

k = 1, j , 1 ,

E0 = 2, 1, 2 j ,

and

H 0 = 1 / ( ) 2 j , 4 + j , 1 2 j , at a frequency = c ( k 0 = 1 ). This plane wave satisfies

Maxwells equations (18)-(21). However for this plane wave the vectors ,

and

bg

p = Re S are all in different directions, since the power flow is in the direction of the vector

b5, 0, 4g One must then be careful to define what is meant by the direction of propagation for
such a plane wave.

Direction angles

b g

One way to characterize a plane wave is through direction angles ,

in spherical

coordinates. The direction angles (which are in general complex) are defined from the relations

k x = k sin cos

(29)

k y = k sin sin

(30)

k z = k cos .

(31)

Homogeneous (uniform) plane wave

One important class of plane waves is the class of homogeneous or uniform plane waves. A
homogeneous plane wave is one for which the direction angles are, by definition, real. A

homogeneous plane wave enjoys certain special properties that are not true in general for all
plane waves. For such a plane wave the wavenumber vector can be written as

k = k R! = R! k ' jk ' ' ,

(32)

where R! is a real unit vector defined from

R! = x! sin cos + y! sin sin + z! cos .

(33)

In this case the k vector is proportional to the real vector R! , so the result of Eq. (27) applies.
The unit vector R! then gives the direction of time-average power flow, and also points in the
direction of the phase and attenuation vectors. That is, all three vectors point in the same
direction for a homogeneous plane wave. This direction is, unambiguously, the direction of
propagation of the plane wave. The planes of constant phase are also then the planes of constant
amplitude, being the planes perpendicular to the R! vector. That is, the plane wave has a uniform
amplitude across the plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation. If the plane wave is not
homogeneous, corresponding to complex direction angles, then the physical interpretation of the
direction angles is not clear.

From Eq. (18) or (19) it may be easily proven that the fields of a homogeneous plane wave
obey the relation

E = H .

(34)

(Recall that all plane waves obey Eq. (22), which is not in general the same as the above
equation.)

Any homogeneous plane wave can be decomposed into a sum of two plane waves, with
electric field vectors polarized perpendicular to each other, and with electric field vectors that are
real, to within a multiplicative complex constant. This follows from a simple rotation of
coordinates (the direction of propagation is then z' , with electric field vectors in the x' and y'
directions. the two plane wave then have the fields

( Ex , H y )

( Ey , H x ) ,

and

with

Ex / H y = E y / H x = . This decomposition is used later in the discussion of polarization.

Lossless media
Another important special case is when the medium is lossless, so that k ' ' = 0 . If Eq. (4) is
substituted into the separation equation (17), the imaginary part of this equation immediately
yields the relation

= 0 .

(35)

Hence, for a lossless region, the phase and attenuation vectors are always perpendicular. In some
applications (e.g., a Fourier transform solution of radiation from an aperture in a ground plane at
z = 0, or from a planar current source at z = 0 [3]), a plane wave propagating in a lossless region

has the characteristic that two of the wavenumbers, e.g., k x and k y , are real (corresponding to
2
2
2
the transform variables). In this case the third wavenumber k z will be real if k x + k y < k and

2
2
2
will be imaginary if k x + k y > k . That is, all transverse wavenumbers k x , k y that lie within a

circle of radius k in the wavenumber plane will be propagating, while all wavenumber outside
the circle will be evanescent. In the first case the power flow is in the direction of the (real) k

vector k x , k y , k z , so that power leaves the aperture from this plane wave. In the second case

10

the power flow is in the direction of the transverse wavenumber vector k x , k y , 0 , so that no
power leaves the aperture for this plane wave component. If the medium is complex, there is no
sharp distinction between propagating and evanescent plane waves. In this case all plane waves

carry power, in the direction of the vector k x , k y , Im k z .

Finally, it can be noted that if a homogeneous plane wave is propagating in a lossless region,
then the attenuation vector must be zero, and all wavenumber components k x , k y , and k z
are real.

Summary of Basic Properties

A summary of the basic properties of a plane wave, discussed in the previous sections, is
given in Table 1.

11

Table 1. Summary of the basic properties of a plane wave.

PROPERTY
Direction angles
Relation between
phase and
attenuation vectors

INHOMOGENEOUS
Lossy
Lossless
complex

complex

real

real

= k ' k ''

= 0

||

=0

E E = 2 H H

E E = 2 H H

E =H

E =H

Impedance relations

EE = H H

EE = H H

Direction of power
flow vector

not
necessarily
in direction

if k, E0 or H0 is
proportional to a
real vector

Wavenumber vector
Orthogonality of
vectors

HOMOGENEOUS
Lossy
Lossless

kk = k2
k k* = k 2

kk = k2
k k* = k 2

EH = 0

EH = 0

EH = 0

EH = 0

Ek = 0
H k = 0

Ek = 0
H k = 0

Ek = 0
H k = 0

Ek = 0
H k = 0

kk = k

kk = k

3. PROPAGATION OF A HOMOGENEOUS PLANE WAVE

The case of a homogeneous plane wave is important enough to warrant further attention. Far
away from a transmitting antenna, the radiation field always has behaves as a homogeneous
plane wave (if the spherical wavefront is approximated as planar). As mentioned, a
homogeneous plane wave is one propagating with real direction angles in space, with a direction
of propagation described by a real unit vector. By a suitable rotation of coordinate axis, the
direction of propagation may be assumed to be along the z axis. Furthermore, the plane way can
always be represented as a sum of two separate plane waves, one with the electric field polarized

12

in the x direction, and the other polarized in the y direction. Considering the wave polarized in
the x direction, the fields are

E x = E 0 e jk z

Hy =

E0

(36)

e jk z .

(37)

The wavenumber k and the intrinsic impedance of the space are given by Eqs. (12) and (23),
respectively.

Wavelength, phase velocity, and group velocity

The wavelength is defined at the distance required for the plane wave to change phase by 2
radians, and is given by

2
k'

(38)

The phase velocity of the plane wave is defined as the velocity at which a point of constant phase
travels (such as the crest of the wave, where the electric field is the maximum). The phase
velocity is given by

vp =

'

Re

j.

(39)

If the permittivity is not a function of frequency (true for vacuum, and often approximately true
for nonconducting media, over a certain frequency range), then the phase velocity is constant
with frequency (the plane wave propagates without dispersion). For vacuum the phase velocity is

13

c = 2.99792458 108 meters/second. The group velocity (velocity of energy flow, and often a

good approximation to the velocity of signal propagation [4], is given by

vg =

d
dk

'

1
.
d
Re
d

(40)

For a nondispersive lossless media (constant real-valued permittivity) the group velocity is equal
to the phase velocity, and both are equal to

v p = vg =

(41)

Depth of penetration (skin depth)

For a lossy medium, the plane wave decays as it propagates, since k '' > 0 . The depth of
penetration d p is defined as the distance required to reduce the field level by a factor of
e 2.718 28, so that the field is 36.788 % of the starting value (the power is reduced by a factor

of e2, or is at a level of 13.534 % of the starting value). The depth of penetration is given as

dp =

1
k ''

Im

(42)

j.

The permittivity is complex for a lossy media, and is represented by Eq. (10). Special cases are
''
'
of particular interest. For a low loss medium, << , a simple binomial approximation of the

square root in Eq. (42) gives

dp =

1
k

''

(43)

'

0.5 k tan

where
14

k ' '

(44)

and the loss tangent is defined as

tan =

''
.
'

(45)

If the loss is due purely to medium conductivity (no polarization loss, so that

! = '

is a real

number), the penetration depth formula (43) for the low-loss case becomes

dp

'

(46)

'
''
For a highly lossy medium, << , in which case we have

k ' k ''

''

(47)

''
For a good conductor the conductivity is very large, so that / from Eq. (10). In this

case the penetration depth is more commonly referred to as the skin depth , since the value
may be very small. (There is no relation to the symbol appearing in the loss tangent symbol.)
For a good conductor,

= dp

(48)

.
m .
For pure copper ( = 5.8 107 S / m , 0 ) at 2.45 GHz, = 1335

Whether a particular material falls into the low loss or highly lossy categories may
depend on frequency. For example, consider typical seawater, which has roughly ! r = 78

15

(ignoring polarization losses) and = 4.0 S / m . Table 2 shows the loss tangent versus
frequency. It is seen that the loss tangent is on the order of unity at microwave frequencies. For
much lower frequencies the seawater is highly lossy, and for much higher frequencies it is a
low loss media. Note that the depth of penetration continues to decrease as the frequency is
raised, even though the medium becomes more of a low loss material at higher frequencies,
according to the definition used (a low loss tangent). At low frequencies the penetration depth is
increasing inversely as the square root of frequency, according to Eq. (48). At high frequencies
the penetration depth approaches a constant, according to Eq. (46).

Table 2. Loss tangent and penetration depth for typical seawater, versus frequency.

frequency
(GHz)

loss tangent

penetration depth

( / )

d p (meters)

0.000001

921800

7.958

0.00001

92180

2.5165

0.0001

9218

0.7958

0.001

921.8

0.2518

0.01

92.18

0.0800

0.1

9.218

0.0266

1.0

0.9218

0.0127

10.0

0.09218

0.01173

100.0

0.009218

0.01172

''

'

Summary of Homogeneous Plane Wave Properties

A summary of the properties relating to wavelength, velocity, and depth of penetration for a
homogeneous plane wave is given in Table 3.
16

Table 3. Propagation Properties of a homogeneous plane wave.

General

wavelength

'

Highly Conducting

phase velocity

'

group velocity

dk

'

1/ k ''

depth of
penetration

Low Loss

Lossless

'

'

'

'

Polarization
The above discussion has assumed a homogeneous plane wave propagating in the z direction,
polarized with the electric field in the x direction. The most general polarization of a wave
propagating in the z direction is one having both x and y components of the field,

E = x! E x 0 + y! E y 0 e j ( k z ) .

(49)

The field components are represented in polar form as

E x 0 = E x 0 e j x ,
E y0 = E y0 e

j y

(50)

(51)

The phase difference between the two components is defined as

17

 = y x .

(52)

Without any real loss of generality, x may be chosen as zero, so that = y . In the time
domain, the field components are then

b g

E x = E x 0 cos t

(53)

E y = E y 0 cos t + .

(54)

b g and cosbt g

Using trigonometric identities, Eq. (54) may be expanded into a sum of sin t

b g

b g

functions, and then Eq. (53) may be used to put both cos t and sin t in terms of Ex (using

sin 2 = 1 cos2 ). After simplification, the result is

A Ex2 + B Ex E y + C E y2 = D

(55)

where
A=

E y0

(56)

E x0

B = 2

E y0
E x0

cos

(57)

C =1

(58)
2

D = E y 0 sin 2 .

(59)

After simplification, the discriminant of this quadratic curve is

2

= B 4 AC = 4

E y0
E x0

sin 2 ,

(60)

18

which is always negative. This curve thus always represents an ellipse. The general form of the
ellipse is shown in Fig. 1. The tilt angle of the ellipse is , and the axial ratio AR is defined as the
ratio of the major axis of the ellipse to the minor axis ( AR 1 ). In the time domain the electric
field vector rotates with the tip of the vector lying on the ellipse. Right-handed elliptical
polarization, or RHEP, corresponds to counterclockwise rotation (the thumb of the right hand
aligns with the direction of propagation, the fingers of the right hand align with the direction of
rotation in time). (This is the IEEE definition, opposite to the usual optics convention.) LHEP
corresponds to rotation in the opposite direction.

y
A2

B1

A1

B2
AR =

A1 A2
B1 B
2

Figure 1. Geometry of the polarization ellipse.

19

A convenient way to represent the polarization state is with the Poincar sphere [5]. Using
spherical trigonometric relations, the following results may be derived for the tilt angle of the
ellipse and the axial ratio.

tan 2 = tan 2 cos

(61)

sin 2 = sin 2 sin ,

(62)

where the parameter is related to the axial ratio as

= cot 1 ( AR ) ,

450 +450

+ for LHEP
for RHEP.

(63)

The phase angle is defined in Eq. (52). The parameter characterizes the ratio of the fields
along the x and y axes, and is defined from

= tan 1

Ey0
Ex 0

0 90o .

(64)

There is no ambiguity in Eq. (62) for , since 900 2 +900 . However, Eq. (61) gives an
ambiguity for , since adding multiples of 180o does not change the tangent. To resolve this
ambiguity, Table 4 may be used to determine the appropriate quadrant (1, 2, 3 or 4) that the
angle 2 is in, based on the Poincar sphere [5].

Table 4. Quadrant that the angle 2 is in.

cos > 0

cos < 0

cos2 > 0

cos2 < 0

20

The following special cases are important.

0
1) Linear polarization: = 0 or 180 , or either E x 0 or E y 0 is zero.

In this case AR = (the ellipse degenerates to a straight line).

0
2) Circular polarization: E y 0 = E x 0 and = 90 (to within any multiple of 180o ).

In this case the ellipse becomes a circle (either RHCP or LHCP), and AR = 1.

It can also be noted that a wave of arbitrary polarization can be represented as a sum of RHCP
and a LHCP waves, by noting that the arbitrarily polarized wave in Eq. (49) can be written as

E = r!

LM 1 d E
N2

x0

iOPQ LMN 12 d E

+ jE y 0 + l!

x0

jE y 0

iOPQ

(65)

where the unit-amplitude RHCP and LHCP waves are

r! =

(66)

(67)

1
x! jy! e jkz
2

1
l! =
x! + jy! e jkz .
2

5. PLANE WAVE REFLECTION AND TRANSMISSION

A general plane wave reflection/transmission problem consists of an incident plane wave
impinging on a multilayer structure, as shown in Fig. 2. An important special case is the tworegion problem shown in Fig. 3. The incident plane wave may be either homogeneous or
inhomogeneous, and any of the regions may have an arbitrary amount of loss. The vector

21

representing the direction of propagation for the incident wave in Figs. 2 and 3 is a real vector
(as shown) if the incident wave is homogeneous, but the analysis is valid for the general case.

ref

inc

ref

inc

2
(n)

Z0

n
t

trans

trans

N
Figure 2. A plane wave reflecting from a multilayer stack of different materials. Each layer has a uniform
(constant) set of material parameters. On the right side the equivalent transmission-line model (transverse
equivalent network) is shown.

ref

inc

inc

Z0

trans

Z0

(1)

ref

t
trans

(2)

Figure 3. Reflection and transmission from a single interface between two different media. The
transmission-line model (transverse equivalent network) for the two-region reflection problem is shown
on the right.

22

The key to obtaining a simple solution to such reflection and transmission problems is the use of
a transmission line model of the layered structured, which is based on TE-TM decomposition of
the plane waves, discussed next.

TE-TM Decomposition
According to a basic electromagnetic theorem [1], the fields in a source-free homogeneous
region can be represented as the sum of two types of fields, a field that is transverse magnetic to
z (TMz) and a field that is transverse electric to z (TEz). The TMz field is defined as one that has

Hz = 0, while the TEz field by definition has Ez = 0. A general plane wave field may therefore be
written as the sum of a TMz plane wave and a TEz plane wave. In free space, the direction z is
rather arbitrary. When a layered media is present, the preferred direction z is perpendicular to the
layers, because this allows for the TMz and TEz plane waves in each region to be modeled as
waves on a transmission line. Standard transmission-line theory may then be conveniently used
to solve plane-wave reflection and transmission problems in a relatively simple manner, without
having to solve the electromagnetic boundary-value problem of matching fields at the interfaces.
The TMz plane wave is commonly referred to as one that is polarized with the electric field in
the place of incidence, while the TEz place wave is polarized with the electric field
perpendicular to the plane of incidence. (The plane of incidence is the y-z plane.) For a
homogeneous plane wave with an incident wave vector in the y-z plane, the polarizations are
shown in Fig. 4.

23

H
x

E
TM z

TE z

Figure 4. Polarizations of incident TMz and TEz plane waves.

The field components may be found by using Maxwells equations to write the transverse (x
and y) field components in terms of the longitudinal components Ez and Hz. The nonzero
longitudinal component is assumed to be proportional to the wavefunction

= exp ( j (k x x + k y y k z z ) ) .

(68)

The plus sign in this equation is chosen for plane waves propagating or decaying in the positive z
direction, while the negative sign is for propagation or decay in the minus z direction. This
representation is convenient for plane-wave reflection problems, since the characteristic
impedance of a transmission line that models a particular region will then have a positive
characteristic impedance for both upward and downward propagating plane waves, in agreement
with the usual transmission line convention.

For the TMz plane wave, the normalized field components may then be written as

24

b g
= k k b x , y , z g
= c k k h b x , y , z g

E x = k x k z x, y, z

H x = k y x , y , z

Ey

H y = k x x , y , z

Ez

2
z

(69)

Hz = 0 .

For a TEz plane wave the corresponding results are

E x = k y x , y , z

E y = k x x , y , z

b g
H = k k b x , y , z g
H = c k k hb x , y , z g .
Hx = k x k z x, y, z
y

Ez = 0

(70)

2
z

Note that a plane wave propagating in the z direction (kz = k) has both longitudinal field
components that are zero. Such a plane wave is TEM (transverse electric and magnetic) to the z
direction)

It may be seen from the above equations that the transverse fields obey the relations

c
h
c z! H h

EtTM = Z0TM z! H tTM

(71)

EtTE = Z0TE

(72)

TE
t

where

Z 0TM =
Z 0TE =

kz

(73)

kz

(74)

25

Transverse Equivalent Network

From the above relations (71) and (72), the transverse (perpendicular to z) field components
behave as voltages and currents on a transmission line model called the transverse equivalent
network. In particular, the correspondence is given through the relations (i = TM or TE)

b g bg
= h! b x , y g I b z g

Eti = e! t x , y V i z

(75)

H ti

(76)

where the unit vectors are chosen so that

e h = z

(77)

for a plane wave propagating in the z direction. The transverse wavefunction

b g

t x, y = e

j kx x+ky y

(78)

is a common transverse phase term that must be the same for all regions (if the transverse
wavenumbers k x or k y were different between two regions, a matching of transverse fields at
the boundary would not be possible). The fact that the transverse wavenumbers are the same in
all regions leads to the law of reflection, which states that the direction angle for a reflected
plane wave must equal that for the incident plane wave. It also leads to Snells law, which states
that the direction angles inside each of the regions are related to each other, through

ni sin i = n1 sin 1 ,
where

ni

i = 1,2, N ,

(79)

is the index of refraction (possibly complex) of region i, defined as

ni = ki / k0 = ri ri . It is often convenient to express the characteristic impedance for region i

from Eqs. (73) and (74) in terms of the medium intrinsic impedance i as
26

Z 0TM = i cos i

(80)

Z0TE = i sec i .

(81)

Using Snells law, the impedances then become

Z 0TM

= i

Fn I
1 G J
Hn K
1

sin 2 1

(82)

Z 0TE =

Fn I
1 G J
Hn K
1
i

(83)

sin 1

The above expressions remain valid for lossy media. The square roots are chosen so that the real
part of the characteristic impedances are positive.

The functions V(z) and I(z) behave as voltage and current on a transmission line, with
TE
TM
characteristic impedance Z0 or Z 0 , depending on the case. Hence any plane-wave reflection

and transmission problem reduces to a transmission line problem, giving the exact solution that
satisfies all boundary conditions. One consequence of this is that TMz and TEz plane waves do
not couple at a boundary. If the incident plane wave is TMz, for example, the waves in all regions
will remain TMz plane waves. Hence, the motivation for the TMz-TEz decomposition. The
transverse equivalent network for the multilayer and two-region problems are shown on the right
sides of Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. The network model is the same for either TMz or TEz
polarization, except that the characteristic impedances are different. If an incident plane wave is
a combination of both TMz and TEz waves, the two parts are solved separately and then summed
to get the total reflected or transmitted field.

27

Special Case: Two-Region Problem

For the simple two-region problem of Fig. 3, the reflected and transmitted voltages
(modeling the transverse electric fields) are represented as

bg

bg

bg

bg

( 1)

V ref z = V inc 0 e + jk z

(2)

V trans z = T V inc 0 e jk z

(84)
z

(85)

where the reflection and transmission coefficients are given by the standard transmission line
equations

Z0( 2 ) Z0(1)

(86)

Z 0( 2) + Z 0(1)

T = 1+ .

(87)

Note that a plus sign is used in the exponent of Eq. (84) to account for upward propagation of the
reflected wave.

A. Critical angle
If regions 1 and 2 are lossless, and region 1 is more dense than region 2 ( n1 > n2 ), an
(2)
incident angle 1 = c will exist for which k z = 0 . From Snells law, the angle is

c = sin 1

FG n IJ .
Hn K
2

(88)

(2)
( 2)
(2)
When 1 > c , the wavenumber k z will be purely imaginary, of the form k z = j z . In

this case there is no power flow into the second region, since the phase vector in region 2 has no
z component. In this case 100% of the incident power is reflected back from the interface. There

28

are, however, still fields present in the second region, decaying exponentially with distance z. In
the second region the power flow is in the horizontal direction only.

B. Brewster angle
For lossless layers, it is possible to have 100% of the incident power transmitted into the
second region, with no reflection. This corresponds to a matched transmission line circuit, with

Z0(1) = Z 0( 2 ) .

(89).

For nonmagnetic layers, it may be easily shown that this matching equation can only be satisfied
in the TMz case (there is always a nonzero reflection coefficient in the TEz case, unless the trivial
case of identical medium is considered). The angle b at which no reflection occurs is called the
Brewster angle. For the TMz case, a simple algebraic manipulation of Eq. (89) yields the result
tan b =

2
.
1

(90)

Orthogonality
When treating reflection problems, there is more than one plane wave in at least one of the
regions, a wave traveling in the positive z direction (focusing on the z variation) and a wave
traveling in the negative z direction. Often, it is desired to calculate power flow in such a region.
For a single plane wave, the complex power density in the z direction (the z component of the
complex Poynting vector) is equal to the complex power flowing on the corresponding
transmission line of the transverse equivalent network. When both an incident and a reflected
wave are present, or both TMz and TEz waves are present the following orthogonality results are

29

useful. These theorems related to power flow in the z direction may be proven by direct
calculation using the field components in rectangular coordinates.

1. An orthogonality exists between a homogeneous TMz plane wave and a homogeneous TEz
plane wave propagating in the same direction, in the sense that the complex power density in
the z direction, S z , is the sum of the two complex power densities S1z and S2 z . This is true
for a lossy or lossless media.

2. An orthogonality exists between an incident wave and a reflected wave in a lossless media
(both are either TEz or TMz), provided the wavenumber component kz of the two waves is
real. The two waves are orthogonal in the sense that the time-average power density in the z
direction, Re S z , is the sum of the two time-average power densities Re S1z and Re S2 z .

To illustrate property 2, consider an incident plane wave traveling in a glass region, impinging
on an air gap that separates the glass region from another identical glass region, as shown in Fig.
5.

ref

inc

glass

air
glass
trans

30

Figure 5. An incident wave traveling in a semi-infinite region of lossless glass impinges on an air gap
separating the glass region from an identical region below. Incident, reflected and transmitted plane
waves are shown.

If the incident plane wave is beyond the critical angle, the plane waves in the air region will be
evanescent, with an imaginary vertical wavenumber kz. Each of the two plane waves in the air
region (upward and downward) that constitute a standing-wave field do not, individually, have a
time-average power flow in the z direction, since kz is imaginary. However, there is an overall
power flow in the z direction inside the air region, since there is a transmitted field in the lower
region. The total power flow in the z direction is thus not the sum of the two individual power
flows. The two waves in the air region are not orthogonal, and property 2 does not apply since
the wavenumber kz is not real.

VI. EXAMPLE
A RHCP plane wave at a frequency of 1.0 GHz is incident on the surface of the ocean at an angle
o
of = 30 . Determine the percentage of power that is reflected from the ocean, and characterize

the polarization of the reflected wave (axial ratio, tilt angle, and handedness). Also, determine
the field of the inhomogeneous transmitted plane wave. The parameters of the ocean water are
assumed to be ! = 78 and = 4 S/m.

Solution
The geometry of the incident and reflected waves is shown in Fig. 6. The incident plane wave is
represented as

b g

E inc = E 0 x! + u! j e

j k y y + k z 1z

(91)

where
31

k y = k 0 sin =

1
k0
2

(92)

3
k0
2

(93)

u! = y! cos z! sin .

(94)

k z1 = k 0 cos =

The reflected wave is represented as

E ref = E 0 A x! + B v! e

j k y y kz0z

(95)

where

v! = y! cos z! sin .

(96)

ref

inc

y
2

ocean

z
Figure 6. Geometry that defines the coordinate system for the example of a plane wave reflecting from the
surface of the ocean.

The x component of the incident and reflected waves corresponds to TEz waves, while the u and
v components correspond to TMz waves. (The u and v directions substitute for the y direction in

the previous discussion on polarization.) The transverse equivalent network is shown in Fig. 3.
From Eqs. (82) and (83), the impedances are

32

Z1TM = 326.258 , Z1TE = 435.011 ,

Z2TM = 34.051 + j (13.269) , Z2TE = 34.089 + j (13.346) . The reflection coefficients are then
TM = 0.808535 + j ( 0.066600) and TE = 0.853161 + j (0.052724) .

The coefficient A in Eq. (94) is determined directly from

A = TE = 0.853161 + j (0.052724) .

(97)

To determine the coefficient B, recall that the voltages in the transverse equivalent network
model only the transverse (horizontal) component of the electric field (the y component in the
TM case). Hence,

b g

BE 0 cos ref = TM E 0 j cos inc .

(98)

inc
ref
Since = = , B is determined directly as

bg

B = TM j = TM = 0.066600 j (0.808535) .

(99)

The percent power reflected is calculated from

P%ref

F1L A
GG 2 MM Z
= 100 G N
GG 1 LM 1
H 2 MN Z

TE
1

TE
1

+
+

B cos

Z1TM

j cos
Z1TM

OP I
PQ JJ
OP JJ
PQ JK

(100)

which yields

P%ref = 69.441 .

(101)

Hence 30.559 % of the incident power is transmitted into the ocean.

The phase angle between the v and x components of the reflected field is

= B A = 88.827 o

(102)

Hence, the reflected wave is a left-handed elliptically polarized wave.

33

The parameter is determined from the ratio of the magnitudes of the v and x components of
the reflected field as

= tan 1

F B I = 43504
GH A JK .

(103)

From the formulas in the Polarization section, the tilt angle of the polarization ellipse from the
x axis (towards the positive v axis) is then

= 10.690o ,

(104)

and the polarization parameter is

= 43.393o .

(105)

The axial ratio of the reflected wave is then

AR = + cot = 1058
.
.

(106)

The reflected wave is nearly CP, since the ocean is highly reflecting (if the ocean were replaced
by a perfect conductor, the reflected wave would be LHCP).

The transmitted field in the ocean is represented as

E trans = E 0 x! C + y! D + z! E e

j k y y kz2 z

i.

(107)

where k z 2 is the vertical wavenumber in the ocean, found from Eq. (31) as
2

k z 2 = k2 cos t = k0 n2

1
1 sin 2 = k0 ( 9.582527 j 3.751642 ) .
n2

(108)

From the transverse equivalent network,

C = T TE = 1 + TE = 0.146839 + j ( 0.052724 )
34

(109)

and

g e

D = T TM j cos = 1 + TM

j b j cos g = 0.057678 j(0.165813)

(110)

The z component of the transmitted field can be determined from the electric Gauss law (20),
which gives
E=

d i

1
kyD .
k z2

(111)

Hence,

E = 0.0055466 + j (0.00648030) .

(112)

From the wavenumbers k y and k z 2 the direction angles of the transmitted wave may be
determined from Eqs. (29) (31). The results are

= 90o

(113)

t = 0.045227 + j (0.017679) radians .

(114)

The transmitted plane wave is inhomogeneous, since the angle t is complex.

REFERENCES
[1] R. F. Harrington, Time-Harmonic Electromagnetic Fields, McGraw Hill, 1961.
[2] W. H. Hayt, Engineering Electromagnetics, 5th Ed., McGraw-Hill, 1989, Appendix B.

35

[3] P. C. Clemmow, The Plane Wave Spectrum Representation of Electromagnetic Fields, IEEE
Press, 1996, pp. 33-36.
[4] R. E. Collin, Field Theory of Guided Waves, 2nd Ed., IEEE Press, 1991, pp. 231-236.
[5] J. D. Kraus, Antennas, McGraw-Hill, 1988, pp. 75-79.

36