Waveguide

A waveguide is generally preferred in microwave communications. Waveguide is a special

form of transmission line, which is a hollow metal tube. Unlike a transmission line, a
waveguide has no center conductor.

The main characteristics of a Waveguide are −

• The tube wall provides distributed inductance.

• The empty space between the tube walls provide distributed capacitance.
• These are bulky and expensive.

Advantages of Waveguides

• Waveguides are easy to manufacture.

• They can handle very large power in kilowatts
• Power loss is very negligible in waveguides. They offer very low loss low value of
alpha−attenuation
• When microwave energy travels through waveguide, it experiences lower losses than
a coaxial cable.
• Multiplexing the signals is possible in contrast to transmission lines.
• Flashover is less in case of waveguide.
• Waveguides have dimensions that are convenient in the 3- to 100-GHz range, and
somewhat inconvenient much outside this range. Within the range, waveguides are
generally superior to coaxial transmission lines.

Types of Waveguides

There are five types of waveguides.

• Rectangular waveguide
• Circular waveguide
• Elliptical waveguide
• Single-ridged waveguide
• Double-ridged waveguide
The types of waveguides shown above are hollow in the center and made up of copper walls.
These have a thin lining of Au or Ag on the inner surface.

Transmission Lines Vs Waveguides

The main difference between a transmission line and a wave guide is −

• A two conductor structure that can support a TEM wave is a transmission line.
• A one conductor structure that can support a TE wave or a TM wave but not a TEM
wave is called as a waveguide.
•
• TE Modes -- transverse-electric mode in which there is no component of electric field
in the direction of propagation
• TM modes -- transverse-magnetic modes in which there is no component of magnetic·
field in the direction of propagation
• In TEM mode -- electric field, magnetic field and propagation of wave should be
perpendicular to each other.
The following table brings out the differences between transmission lines and waveguides.

A waveguide consists of a hollow metallic tube of a rectangular or circular shape used to

guide an electromagnetic wave. Waveguides are used principally at frequencies in the
microwave range; inconveniently large guides would be required to transmit radio-frequency
power at longer wavelengths
In waveguides the electric and magnetic fields are confined to the space within the guides.
Thus no power is lost through radiation, and even the dielectric loss is negligible, since the
guides are normally air-filled. However, there is some power loss as heat in the walls of the
guides, but the loss is very small.

RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES

A rectangular waveguide is a hollow metallic tube with a rectangular cross section. The
conducting walls of the guide confine the electromagnetic fields and thereby guide the
electromagnetic wave. A number of distinct field configurations or modes can exist in
waveguides. When the waves travel longitudinally down the guide, the plane waves are
reflected from wall to wall. This process results in a component of either electric or magnetic
field in the direction of propagation of the resultant wave; therefore the wave is no longer a
transverse electromagnetic (TEM) wave. Figure 4-1-1 shows that any uniform plane wave in
a lossless guide may be resolved into TE and TM waves.

It is clear that when the wavelength λ is in the direction of propagation of the incident wave,
there will be one component λ, in the direction normal to the reflecting plane and another λ,
parallel to the plane.

A plane wave in a waveguide resolves into two components: one standing wave in the
direction normal to the reflecting walls of the guide and one travelling wave in the direction
parallel to the reflecting walls.

MODES:
It is possible to propagate several modes of electromagnetic waves within a waveguide.
These modes correspond to solutions of Maxwell's equations for particular waveguides. In
lossless waveguides the modes may be classified as either
• transverse electric (TE) mode or
• transverse magnetic (TM) mode.
In rectangular guides the modes are designated TEmn or TMmn.
m = number of half waves of electric or magnetic intensity in the x direction
n = number of half waves in the y direction if the propagation of the wave is assumed in the
positive z direction.

For example, for m =1, the fields have one half cycle variation in the - x direction, for m= 2, the fields have
one full cycle variation, i.e, two half cycle variation in the x- direction and so on. The field variation for m =1and 2
is shown in the following figure

Solutions of Wave Equations in Rectangular Coordinates

The electric and magnetic wave equations in frequency domain

propagation constant

α = attenuation constant

β = phase constant

TEmn modes
• Cutoff frequency
A given waveguide has a definite cutoff frequency for each allowed mode. If the frequency of
the impressed signal is above the cutoff frequency for a given mode, the electromagnetic
energy can be transmitted through the guide for that particular mode without attenuation.
Otherwise the electromagnetic energy with a frequency below the cutoff frequency for that
particular mode will be attenuated to a negligible value in a relatively short distance.

• Dominant mode
The dominant mode in a particular guide is the mode having the lowest cutoff frequency. It is
advisable to choose the dimensions of a guide in such a way that, for a given input signal,
only the energy of the dominant mode can be transmitted through the guide.

• The wavelength λ, in the guide for the TEm,n modes is given by

Since the cutoff frequency shown in is a function of the modes and guide dimensions, the
physical size of the waveguide will determine the propagation of the modes. Whenever two
or more modes have the same cutoff frequency, they are said to be degenerate modes. In a
rectangular guide the corresponding TEm,n and TM m,n modes are always degenerate. In a
square guide the TE m,n TE n,m TM m,n and TM n,m modes form a foursome of
degeneracy. The mode with the lowest cutoff frequency in a particular guide is called the
dominant mode. The dominant mode in a rectangular guide with a > b is the TE10 mode.
Each mode has a specific mode pattern (or field pattern).

The TMmn modes in a rectangular guide are characterized by Hz = 0. In other words, the z component
of an electric field E must exist in order to have energy transmission in the guide.
Field patterns

The electric and magnetic field patterns for the dominant mode are shown in Figure I0-12a.
The electric field exists only at right angles to the direction of propagation, whereas the
magnetic field has a component in the direction of propagation as well as a normal
component. The electric field is maximum at the center of the waveguide for this mode and
drops off sinusoidally to zero intensity' at the walls, as shown. The magnetic field is in the
form of (closed) loops, which lie in planes normal to the electric field, i.e., parallel to the top
and bottom of the guide. This magnetic field is the same in all those planes, regardless of the
position of such a plane along the y axis, as evidenced by the equidistant dashed lines in the
end view.
The visualization of the modal fields is important for identifying regions from where fields
can be tapped efficiently by the probes. The field probes are devices which can induce fields
inside a waveguide or extract energy from the fields propagating inside the waveguide. To
visualize the fields first we fix the time i.e we obtain instantaneous field distribution inside
the waveguide.
6. Summary
As a summary, we should remember that,
EM Waveguides, as an assembly of conductors are used to guide the electromagnetic
waves in the desired direction.
Waveguides are most commonly used for microwave RF signals
The EM waves below cut off frequency cannot propagate through the waveguide.
Multimode Transmission is a special feature of EM waveguides.
TEM mode cannot propagate through any bounded waveguide.
Proper location of antenna probes in the wave guide using Coaxial cables can be used to
excite different modes in waveguide.
The conducting walls and the Dielectric in the waveguide cause the major loss of EM
power carried by the wave.