Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A.
Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
Chapter Two: Vector Potential and Radiated Electromagnetic
Field of Antennas
2.1 Introduction
An antenna (or aerial) is an electrical device which converts electric power into radio
waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver. In
transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an oscillating radio frequency electric current to
the antenna's terminals, and the antenna radiates the energy from the current as
electromagnetic waves (radio waves). In reception, an antenna intercepts some of the
power of an electromagnetic wave in order to produce a tiny voltage at its terminals, that
.is applied to a receiver to be amplified
Antennas are essential components of all equipment that uses radio. They are used in
systems such as radio broadcasting, broadcast television, two-way radio, communications
receivers, radar, cell phones, and satellite communications, as well as other devices such
as garage door openers, wireless microphones, bluetooth enabled devices, wireless
computer networks, baby monitors, and RFID tags on merchandise
In wireless communication systems, signals are radiated in space as an electromagnetic
wave by using a receiving transmitting antenna and a fraction of this radiated power is
intercepted by using a receiving antenna as shown in the figure
In this chapter, our focus is to study the approach by which an antenna converts radio •
frequency current to electromagnetic waves (Both electric field and magnetic field)
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
Typically an antenna consists of an arrangement of metallic conductors ("elements
electrically connected (often through a transmission line) to the receiver or transmitter. Antennas
act as transformers between conducted waves and electromagnetic waves propagating freely in
space as shown in the figure
Their name is borrowed from zoology, in which the Latin word antennae is used to
.describe the long, thin feelers possessed by many insects
- Usually antennas are metallic structures, but dielectric antennas are also used now a day
- A rigid metallic structure is called an "antenna" while the wire form is called an "aerial"
In two-way communication, the same antenna can be used for transmission and reception but
with diffent frequencies (f1 and f2 such that f1 and f2 are with different values). This antenna is
called transmitter/ receiver or shortly called transever
2-2 Antenna Analysis
Antenna analysis is that finding the E and H fields in the space surrounding the antenna from
time-varying current carried and distributed on the antenna.
An antenna operating in the transmit mode is normally excited at a particular input point in the
antenna structure. Given an antenna structure and an input excitation, the current distribution on
the antenna structure is established in such a manner that Maxwell’s equations are satisfied
everywhere and at all times.
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
The antenna analysis can be done using any one of the following:
(a) Determination of the current distribution on the structure due to the excitation and
(b) Evaluation of the field in the space surrounding the antenna due to current distribution.
The first part generally leads to an integral equation, the treat ment of which is beyond the scope
of this course. We will be mainly concerned with the second part, i.e., establishing the antenna
fields (E and H), from the given current distribution of the antenna.
To simplify the problem of finding the E and H fields due to a current distribution, we can split it
into two parts by defining intermediate potential functions which are related to the H and E
fields. This is known as the vector potential approach and is discussed in the following
subsection.
2-2-1 Vector Potential
a vector potential is a vector field whose curl is a given vector field. The magnetic field B can
be expressed as the curl of a vector field or vector function given by
This function A is given the name "vector potential"
This is analogous to a scalar potential, which is a scalar field whose gradient is a given vector
field given by:
where B is the magnetic field and E is the electric field. In magnetostatics where there is no time-
varying charge distribution, only the first equation is needed.
Starting with the above definitions and remembering that the curl of the gradient is zero:
Why using vector potential?
In the context of antenna engineering, the vector potential is a useful quantity that helps us
calculate the current distribution on an antenna, and thereby finding the radiated fields
( Finding both electric E and magnetic H fields from current distribution on the antenna using
vector potential A) . This is due to that using direct method to obtain magnetic field H from
current seems to be quite difficult (using complex integration).
Vector Potential Approach
Given a current distribution on the antenna, the problem is one of deter mining the E and H fields
due to this current distribution which satisfies all four of Maxwell’s equations along with the
boundary conditions, if any. In the vector potential approach we carry out the solution to this
problem in two steps by defining intermediate potential functions.
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
1- In the first step, we determine the vector potential function) due to the current distribution and
2- in the second step, the E and H fields are computed from the vector potential. In the analysis
that follows, the relationships between the vector potential and the current distribution as well as
the E and H fields are derived. All four of Maxwell’s equations are embedded in these
relationships.
1- Deriving Vector Potential For an Antenna
We will consider the dipole antenna to obtain the vector potential A by which both magnetic
field H and then electric field E are determined. A dipole antenna is a wire antenna with length
L=λ/2 each pole is with length of λ/4 where λ is the wavelength of signal. The two poles are
connected to a transmission line as shown in the figure
In particular, we will consider an infinitesimal dipole in which the length of the antenna is very,
very short compared to the wavelength of the signal being applied to it in order to obtain linear
distribution of the current. To satisfy this condition the following should be satisfied
In practice
as shown in the figure
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
To solve for E and H (and S) created by this antenna, we must first begin by calculating the
magnetic vector potential A at point (P) located at distance (r) from the center of the antenna as
shown in the figure
If we apply a time-harmonic signal to the antenna, the current can be written as:
Assuming that the current distribution is uniform across the antenn, we can calculate A from I as
follows
If we assume that r >> λ, then r does not vary with the position along the wire, meaning that the
.integral is simply integrating over a constant
The above equation gives the vector potential in cartezian coordinate. Because the antenna
radiates power radially in all direction, so we need to convert the given vector into spherical
coordinate as shown in the figure
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
:From this Figure, we can see that
We can then rewrite the above equation of vector A as
2- Calculation of H field and E field
Now that we have A(r) in spherical coordinates, we can calculate H(r) at point (P) as follows:
In spherical coordinates, this can be calculated as follows
We can now find the electric field that corresponds to the magnetic field
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
This results in the following expression for electric field in the far field
.Finally, we will calculate the average Poynting vector for this antenna
:Substituting Equations of H fild and E field, we find
ExampleAn infinitesimal dipole antenna with length 1cm has a sinusoidal current
of amplitude 1A and frequency 1MHz applied to it.
1- What is the amplitude of the magnetic field at a distance of 5m and at an angle
of 30° away from the direction of the antenna?
2- What is the electric field that corresponds to the magnetic field?
3- What is the average Poynting vector?
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
After E and H fields and their average poying vector are calculated, other antennna parameters
such as antenna radiation pattern, radiated power, radiation intensity, directivity and antenna gain
can be calculated.
1- Antenna Radiation Pattern
Radiation pattern represents the pattern of power transmitted from antenna to the free space. It is
obtained by plotting either electric field E or average poyinting vector as as a function of angle
Ө. It is usually plotted on special graph paper calleed polar chart as shown in the figure which
shows the plot of average poyinting vector versus angle Ө
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
In this figure, we can see that the maximum power transmitted is in the direction perpendicular
to the antenna, while there is no power being transmitted parallel to the antenna. Note
that the regions of maximum power transmission are referred to as “lobes,” while regions of
.minimum or zero power transmission are referred to as “nulls"
2- Antenna Radiated power
we can calculate the total power radiated by the antenna if we integrate the average
Poynting vector over a closed surface (a sphere, in this case)
Using the differential surface area in spherical coordinates, we can rewrite this as:
This can be simplified as follows:
The integral with respect to Ф is simply 2Ф, while the integral with respect to Ө is 4/3
This can be simplified as follows:
These parameters and the other parameters will be studied in more details in the next chapters
Example: What is the total radiated power for the antenna from specified in the previous
examples of infinitesimal dipole antenna with length 1cm has a sinusoidal current of
amplitude 1A and frequency 1MHz applied to it.
Solution
The radiated power for this antenna is given by:
The wave number k= (ω/c)=(2πf)/3*108=0.02 rad/m
Now prad= 120π(0.02*1*0.01)2/12π
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Antenna & Wave propagation 3rd year Dr. Abdlkhadhum A. Hassan
Electical Engineering Department
prad=0.4 *10-6 w B= (μol/2πr)aф
Home work#1ch2
[Q1] A vector field B is related to another vector field A by
Determine an A for
where (μo l) are constant and for the boundary conditions A=0 at r=r o
[Q2] A short dipole antenna with a uniform current distribution in free space of 3
A at frequency of 10 MHz. Calculate |Er| for Ө=90 and Ф=0 if λ=10 cm and r=200
m. Also Determine the average of the poynting vector.
[Q3] A vertical short dipole antenna radiates 1 Kw power.
1-Find the electric field and the Poynting vector at a distance of 10 km from the
dipole in the horizontal plane passing through the dipole.
2- What is the direction of electric field at observation point?
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