ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND TRANSMISSION LINES DEPT.

ECE

Substituting ,

or,
Thus wavelength also represents the distance covered in one oscillation of the wave.
Similarly, represents a plane wave traveling in the -z direction.
The associated magnetic field can be found as follows:
From (6.4),

where is the intrinsic impedance of the medium.

When the wave travels in free space

is the intrinsic impedance of the free space.

In the time domain,

Which represents the magnetic field of the wave traveling in the +z direction.
For the negative traveling wave,

For the plane waves described, both the E & H fields are perpendicular to the direction of
propagation, and these waves are called TEM (transverse electromagnetic) waves.
The E & H field components of a TEM wave is shown in Fig below

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Figure : E & H fields of a particular plane wave at time t.

Solved Problems:

1. The vector amplitude of an electric field associated with a plane wave that propagates in
the negative z direction in free space is given by  m  2 a x  3 a y V
m
Find the magnetic field strength.

Solution:
The direction of propagation nβ is –az. The vector amplitude of the magnetic field is then given
a x a y az
n   1  1 
by  
  0 0 1   3 a x  2 a y A m
m
   377 
2 3 0


*note   120π~377Ω (Appendix D – Table D.1)


2. The phasor electric field expression in a phase is given by

 
  a x   y a y  2  j5 a z e j 2.3( 0.6 x  0.8 y )
Find the following:

1.  y .
2. Vector magnetic field, assuming    and    .
3. Frequency and wavelength of this wave.

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Solution:

1. The general expression for a uniform plane wave propagating in an arbitrary

direction is given by

   m e  j  r

where the amplitude vector  m , in general, has components in the x, y, and z

directions. Comparing equation 6.3 with the general field equation for the plane
wave propagating in an arbitrary direction, we obtain

β · r = β x x + β yy + β z z
= β (cos θxx + cos θyy + cos θzz)
= 2.3(-0.6x + 0.8y + 0)

Hence, a unit vector in the direction of propagation nβ is given by

nβ = -0.6ax + 0.8ay .
Because the electric field  must be perpendicular to the direction of propagation nβ, it must
satisfy the following relations:

nβ ·  = 0


Therefore, (-0.6ax + 0.8ay) · a x   y a y   2  j5 a z  0 
Or
-0.6 + 0.8  y = 0
Hence,  y = 0.75. The electric field is given by

 
  a x   y a y  2  j5 a z e j 2.3( 0.6 x  0.8 y )


2. The vector magnetic field  is given by

ax ay az
 1  1
  n     0.6 0.8 0
 377
1 0.75 2  j5

so that

0.8(2  j5)
 x    4.24  j10.6 10 3
377

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0.6(2  j5)
 y    318
.  j 7.95 10 3
377

0.6  0.75  0.8

 z   3.31 103
377

The vector magnetic field is then given by

 
 a e j 2.3( 0.6x0.8 y)
   x a x   y a y   z z

3. The wavelength λ is given by

2 2
   2.73 m
 2.3

and the frequency

c 3  108
f   011
. GHz
 2.73

Reflection and Refraction at Plane Interface between Two Media:

Figure 6.7 shows two media with electrical properties  1 and  1 in medium 1, and  2 and  2 in
medium 2. Here a plane wave incident angle  i on a boundary between the two media will be
partially transmitted into and partially reflected at the dielectric surface. The transmitted wave is
reflected into the second medium, so its direction of propagation is different from the incidence
wave. The figure also shows two rays for each the incident, reflected, and transmitted waves. A
ray is a line drawn normal to the equiphase surfaces, and the line is along the direction of
propagation.

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Incident
2 rays Reflected
rays
1

1 r 2

i C E

 1 , 1
A
 2 , 2 B

t

Reflected
rays
Figure 6.7

The incident ray 2 travels the distance CB, while on the contrary the reflected ray 1 travels the
distance AE. For both AC and BE to be the incident and reflected wave fronts or planes of
equiphase, the incident wave should take the same time to cover the distance AE. The reason
being that the incident and reflected wave rays are located in the same medium, therefore their
velocities will be equal,

CB AE

V1 V 2
OR

AB sin  i  AB sin  r

With this being the case then it follows that

i   r

What is the relationship between the angles of incidence i and refraction  r ?

It takes the incident ray the equal amount of time to cover distance CB as it takes the refracted
ray to cover distance AD –

CB AD

V1 V 2

And the magnitude of the velocity V1 in medium 1 is:

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