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Introduction
• What are waves? Waves are a means for transferring energy
or information from one place to another.
• What are EM waves? Electromagnetic waves as the name
suggests, are a means for transferring electromagnetic energy.
• A wave is a function of both time and space
• Mathematically assumes the following form from Maxwell
equation
Where u- is wave velocity
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• The medium is source free (if it contains no charges or
currents) (ρv=0, J=0)
or
If we assume harmonic time dependent , 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡
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,
, , ,
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Generally,
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Electromagnetic spectrums
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Plane Waves: Since the field strength is uniform everywhere it is
also known as uniform plane waves.
• A plane wave is a constant-frequency wave whose wave
fronts (surfaces of constant phase) are infinite parallel
planes of constant amplitude normal to the phase velocity
vector.
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Properties of a uniform plane wave:
• Electric and magnetic field are perpendicular to each other.
• No electric or magnetic field in the direction of propagation.
(Transverse electromagnetic wave TEM wave).
• The value of the magnetic field is equal to the magnitude of the
electric field divided by η0 (~377 Ohm) at every instant
(magnetic field amplitude is much smaller than the electric field
amplitude).
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1. Plane Wave For free Space
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Example:
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,
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Exercise:
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2. Plane Wave For Lossy medium
• If the medium is conductive with a conductivity σ, then the
Maxwell’s curl equations can be written as:
• The medium is charge free (ρv=0) and assuming & suppressing
the time factor 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡
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Taking the curl both sides
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let
-equate real terms
equate complex terms
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attenuation &Phase const
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,
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Wave amplitude attenuates along az dxn
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• The propagated wave decreased or attenuated in amplitude by
the factor α: is known the attenuation coefficient of the
medium.
• Its measure of spatial rate of wave decay in medium, measure
in Neper per meter. for free space σ =0 and therefore
α=0 i .e. the wave doesn’t attenuated in free space the quantity
β is a measure of phase shift per unit length in radians per meter
and called phase constant or wave number.
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The ratio of conduction current density to that of the displacement current is:
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3. Plane Wave For Lossless medium
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Example:
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Example:
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4. Plane Wave For Good dielectric/conductor
• Note that σ/ωε is defined as loss tangent of a medium
• A medium with σ/ωε <0.01 is said to be a good insulator
• Whereas a medium with σ/ωε >100 is said to be a good
conductor.
For good dielectric:
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For good conductor:
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Example:
Solution
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Skin effect
• The fields do attenuate as they travel in a good dielectric
medium.
• α in a good dielectric is very small in comparison to that of a
good conductor.
• As the amplitude of the wave varies with e-αz, the wave
amplitude reduces its value by 1/e or 37% times over a distance
of
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which is also known as skin depth
This means that in a good conductor:
higher the frequency, lower is the skin depth
higher is the conductivity, lower is the skin depth and
higher is the permeability, lower is the skin depth
• Let us assume an EM wave which has x-component and
traveling along the z-axis
Then, it can be expressed as:
Taking the real part
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Substituting the values of α and β for good conductors, we have
Now using the point form of Ohm’s law for conductors, we can
write
What is the phase velocity and wavelength inside a good
conductor?
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Example:
, , ?
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#Reading Assignment
Polarization
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