Lecture 10:

Uniform Plane Wave Solutions to

Maxwells Equations

1
 To study uniform plane wave
solutions to Maxwells equations:
In the time domain for a lossless
medium.
In the frequency domain for a
lossy medium.

2
 A wave is a pattern of values in space
that appear to move as time
evolves.
A wave is a solution to a wave equation.
Examples of waves include water
waves, sound waves, seismic
waves, and voltage and current
waves on transmission lines.

3
 Wave phenomena result from an
exchange between two different forms of
energy such that the time rate of change
in one form leads to a spatial change in
the other.
Waves possess
no mass
energy
momentum
velocity

E
tH
5

K
D
B
JcB
Ji
ci


D
mq
e
v


H
H
E
m

K
E
i
JH
E H
t



q
E
e
mv
D E B H Jc E

6
Kc m H
J
i
7





iE
K
H
H
0
q
tH
E
e
v
m
v0



E
0
0
m
 Obviously, there must be a source
for the field somewhere.
However, we are looking at the
properties of waves in a region far
from the source.

8
H

E0

9
tEtH

222
2
E


E
t



E
t
H


E
2


t2H

10

E
0
2
H
2 The wave
equations are not
independent.
Usually we solve
the electric field
wave equation and
determine H from
E using Faradays
law.


z,t
axE
E
A uniform plane wave is an electromagnetic wave in
which the electric and magnetic fields and the
direction of propagation are mutually orthogonal,
and their amplitudes and phases are constant over
planes perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
Let us examine a possible plane wave solution given
by

11


E
xz E
2z
x
2E
tx
,tp1zvptp2zvpt
0
The wave equation for this field simplifies to

The general solution to this wave equation is

12
 The functions p1(z-vpt) and p2 (z+vpt)
represent uniform waves propagating
in the +z and -z directions respectively.
Once the electric field has been
determined from the wave equation,
the magnetic field must follow from
Maxwells equations.

13


vp

1
The velocity of propagation is determined solely by the medium:

The functions p1 and p2 are determined by the source and the other boundary conditions.

14


Hyz,t1p1zvpzt,tp2zvpt
H
where

a
H
y
Here we must have

15


is the intrinsic impedance of the medium
given by

Like the velocity of propagation, the

intrinsic impedance is independent of the
source and is determined only by the
properties of the medium.

16


c120
v
p8
/7
3
1 0m
s
In free space (vacuum):

17
 Strictly speaking, uniform plane
waves can be produced only by
sources of infinite extent.
However, point sources create
spherical waves. Locally, a spherical
wave looks like a plane wave.
Thus, an understanding of plane
waves is very important in the study
of electromagnetics.
18
vppt
p21z

C ppzvpvpptC12costz
osv
12c
Assuming that the source is sinusoidal. We have

19


Eyz,tC11costzC2costz
xH
The electric and magnetic fields are
given by

20


z,t

z
The argument of the cosine function
is the called the instantaneous phase of
the field:

21


tvp
zd0




t
z1

0
The speed with which a constant value
of instantaneous phase travels is called
the phase velocity. For a lossless medium,
it is equal to and denoted by the same
symbol as the velocity of propagation.

22


2

2
The distance along the direction of
propagation over which the
instantaneous phase changes by 2
radians for a fixed value of time is
the wavelength.

23
 The Function vs. position at a fixed time
wavelength 1

is also the 0.8

distance 0.6

0.4
between 0.2

every 0

other zero
-0.2

-0.4

crossing of -0.6

the -0.8

-1
sinusoid. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

24


c
f
v
f
p
Relationship between wavelength
and frequency in free space:

Relationship between wavelength

and frequency in a material
medium:

25


vp
is the phase constant and is given by

rad/m

26


0
ck0
2
0
In free space (vacuum):

free space wavenumber

(rad/m)

27
 Sinusoidal steady-state (or time-harmonic)
analysis is very useful in electrical
engineering because an arbitrary
waveform can be represented by a
superposition of sinusoids of different
frequencies using Fourier analysis.
If the waveform is periodic, it can be
represented using a Fourier series.
If the waveform is not periodic, it can
be represented using a Fourier transform.

28

E

jH



E

29
H
j


E

H


j
m0
j
H

E
30
EH

E
0

0
H


EE
2222
2
H

E

E
0
H
2222

31
The Helmholtz
equations are not
independent.
Usually we solve
the electric field
equation and
determine H from
E using Faradays
law.


the form
d2zEx2Exz0

E
a E
x x
Assuming a plane wave solution of

The Helmholtz equation simplifies to

32


j



j
2
The propagation constant is a
complex number that can be
written as

(m )
-1
attenuation
constant
(Np/m)

33
phase constant
(rad/m)


is the attenuation constant and has units
of nepers per meter (Np/m).
is the phase constant and has units of
radians per meter (rad/m).
Note that in general for a lossy medium

34


zECzeCeEez
E
xx

1
j

z2
z2
z j
zxz
The general solution to this wave
equation is

wave traveling in
the +z-direction

35
wave traveling in
the -z-direction


x1
x
z 2
j
t z
z,tCReEczoestzCecostz
E Converting the phasor representation of
E back into the time domain, we have

We have assumed that C1 and C2 are real.

36


j
E

H
j

E
The corresponding magnetic field for
the uniform plane wave is obtained
using Faradays law:

37


yz
H 1
CE1xezCE2xez
z
Evaluating H we have

38
z


e j
We note that the intrinsic impedance
is a complex number for lossy media.

39


y2
y1
j
t
z
z
eczoestz
z,tRCeH
H
Converting the phasor
representation of H back into the
time domain, we have

40
 We note that in a lossy medium, the
electric field and the magnetic field
are no longer in phase.
The magnetic field lags the electric
field by an angle of .

41


have

E
H
aa
zza
E
H
Note that we

These form a
right-handed
coordinate
system

42
Uniform plane
waves are a
type of
transverse
electromagnetic
(TEM) wave.


waves:

H
1
H
a
EE
p
Relationships between the phasor
representations of electric and
magnetic fields in uniform plane

43
unit vector in
direction of
propagation


Example:

Consider

fE
0

x
9


zz,t


.
01
244

5 S
/em
0
H z rs


co

1
tz
90
.
3
m
N
p
/
6
a
d
+

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
Ex (z,t)

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
1

-1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
e
2.5
z/0

45

z
Snapshot of Ex+(z,t) at t = 0

3 3.5 4 4.5 5
 Properties of the wave determined
by the source:
amplitude
phase
frequency

46


intrinsic

v
p
f
2
Properties of the wave
determined by the medium are:
velocity of propagation (vp)

impedance ()
also depend on
frequency
propagation constant constant
(=j)
wavelength ( )

47
 For a signal (such as a pulse) comprising a band of frequencies, different frequency components
propagate with different velocities causing distortion of the signal. This phenomenon is called dispersion.

25

20
input signal
15

10

5
output signal
0

-5
0 100 200 300 400 500 600

48


z,tEecostz
E

z
xx0
Assume a wave propagating in the
+z-direction:

We consider two special cases:

Low-loss dielectric.
Good (but not perfect) conductor.

49


1jta jr01
n1 jtan
r


0
A lossy dielectric exhibits loss due to
molecular forces that the electric field
has to overcome in polarizing the
material.
We shall assume that

50


tan1
Assume that the material is a low-
loss dielectric, i.e, the loss tangent of
the material is small:

51



j
1x12x
1/2

0tan2r
0j
1 2
0





1
j
k0
t
a
n


t
a
n
Assuming that the loss tangent is small,
approximate expressions for and
can be developed.

52
wavenumber


vpkr
c
The phase velocity is given by

53


10rx1/212x12jtan1x0reejxta2n





The intrinsic impedance is given by

54
1/2
 In most low-loss dielectrics, r is
more or less independent of
frequency. Hence, dispersion can
usually be neglected.
The approximate expression for is
used to accurately compute the loss
per unit length.

55
 In a perfect conductor, the
electromagnetic field must vanish.
In a good conductor, the
electromagnetic field experiences
significant attenuation as it
propagates.
The properties of a good conductor
are determined primarily by its
conductivity.
56


Hence,



j
1
For a good conductor,

57


j1
2




2
j
58







j


j


vp


2
c
The phase velocity is given by

59


1



j2j

j

je
45
The intrinsic impedance is given by

60


e



1 1
The skin depth of material is the
depth to which a uniform plane
wave can penetrate before it is
attenuated by a factor of 1/e.
We have

61


1

2
For a good conductor, we have

62


1

E 002

rr
kk
0
63
r


r
2E j0
J


K i

rri J
0K
0
i
i