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ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves

Chapter 12
Plane Wave Reflection and Dispersion
Waves and propagation; Maxwell’s equations; applications including transmission lines; impedance matching and Smith charts; reflection
and refraction; waveguides and antennas. [4-0-0]

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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1. Boundary Conditions

• What happens to the field strength and flux density when fields cross the
interface between two dielectrics?

• In a source-free region, we can show that:

– the normal component of flux density is continuous across the interface;
– the tangential component of field strength is continuous across the
interface.

• You have already seen that this can be proven fairly easily by assuming
static conditions.

• The results apply equally well to time varying fields.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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1 Boundary Conditions for Electric Fields

• In a charge-free region
Dn1 = Dn2 .

• If there is surface charge,

(D1 − D2) · n̂12 = −ρs .
• In all cases,
Et1 = Et2 .
• In a charge-free region,
tan θ1 r2
= .
tan θ2 r1
• Can you prove this using the Divergence Theorem and Stokes Theorem,
respectively?

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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2 Boundary Conditions for Magnetic Fields

• In all cases
Bn1 = Bn2 .
• If the surface is current-free,
Ht1 = Ht2 .
• If there is a current sheet,

(H1 − H2) · n̂12 = K .

• If there is no current,
tan θ1 µr2
= .
tan θ2 µr1
• Can you prove this using the Divergence Theorem and Stokes Theorem,
respectively?

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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Wave Propagation at Boundaries

1. Normal Incidence

2. Oblique Incidence and Snell’s Laws

3. Perpendicular or TE Polarization

4. Parallel or TM Polarization

5. Standing Waves

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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1 Normal Incidence

• When a propagating wave reaches an interface between two different

regions, it is partly reflected and partly transmitted.

• Application of the appropriate boundary conditions allows us to determine

the transmission and reflection coefficients.

• At the boundary,

E0i + E0r = E0t . H0i − H0r = H0t .

• Furthermore,
E0i E0r E0t
= η1 , = η1. = η2 .
H0i H0r H0t

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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• These equations can be combined to yield:

E0r η2 − η1 H0r η1 − η2 E0t 2η2 H0t 2η1

= , = , = , = .
E0i η1 + η2 H0i η1 + η2 E0i η1 + η2 H0i η1 + η2

• As shown in §4, the intrinsic impedances for various types of media are:
q
µ0
free space η0 = 0 = 120πΩ
pµ
perfect dielectric η= 
q
jωµ
partially conducting medium η= σ+jω
p ωµ
conducting medium η= σ
6 45◦

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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2 Oblique Incidence and Snell’s Laws

• A wave incident upon a plane interface between two media will lead to
a reflected wave in the first medium and a transmitted wave in the second.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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• The plane of incidence contains the normal to the interface and the
normal to the directions of incident, reflected, and transmitted wave
propagation.
• Snell’s law of reflection is
θi = θr .

• Snell’s law of refraction is

r
sin θi µ22 v1
= = .
sin θt µ11 v2

• Note this is the ratio of the speeds of light in the two media!
• What is the critical angle of incidence observed when a wave propagates
from the denser medium into the less dense medium?

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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3 Perpendicular or TE Polarization

• For perpendicular or TE or s polarization, E is perpendicular to the plane

of incidence.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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• At the interface between two regions,

E0r η2 cos θi − η1 cos θt

i
= .
E0 η2 cos θi + η1 cos θt

and
E0t 2η2 cos θi
i
= ..
E0 η2 cos θi + η1 cos θt

• For normal incidence, θi = θt = 0◦ and the expressions reduce to those

of the previous section.

• Does the reflected wave ever drop to zero for TE polarization?

• Ans. No. Prove this.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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4 Parallel or TM Polarization

• For parallel or p or TM polarization, E is entirely within the plane of

incidence.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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• At the interface,
E0r η2 cos θt − η1 cos θi
i
=
E0 η2 cos θt + η1 cos θi
and
E0t 2η2 cos θi
i
= .
E0 η2 cos θt + η1 cos θi

• If µ1 = µ2, will there be a particular angle of incidence for which there

is no reflected wave?
• Ans. Yes, this angle is given by the Brewster angle,
r
−1 2
θB = tan .
1

• Be very careful not to confuse η with n, the refractive index!

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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Simplifications for Pure Dielectrics

• Considerable simplifications are possible for the common case of

nonmagnetic dielectric media, i.e., µ1 = µ2 = µ0.

• In particular:

sin(θi − θt)
ΓT E (E) = −ΓT E (H) = −
sin(θi + θt)

and
tan(θi − θt)
ΓT M (E) = −ΓT M (H) = −
tan(θi + θt)

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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5 Standing Waves

• The incident and reflected waves will superimpose and create an

interference pattern.
• The simplest case occurs when waves travelling through a perfect
dielectric (σ1 = α1 = 0) in the +z direction are normally incident
upon a perfect conductor.
• The combination of horizontally polarized incident and reflected waves
may be written

E(z, t) = [E0i ej(ωt−βz) + E0r ej(ωt+βz)]x̂ = ejωt(E0i e−jβz) + E0r ejβz x̂.

• Because η2 = 0, E0r /E0i = −1, and

E(z, t) = ejωt(E0i e−jβz) − E0i ejβz x̂ = −2jE0i sin βz ejωtx̂

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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• Taking the real part yields

E(z, t) = 2E0i sin βz sin ωt x̂.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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Wave Impedance

• At each point along the direction of propagation, the wave impedance is

the ratio between the electric and magnetic fields.
• Because the standing waves that correspond to the electric and magnetic
fields are effectively an interference pattern between the forward and
backward travelling waves, the wave impedance is a periodic function with
period = λ/2.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson
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References

[1] W. H. Hayt and J. A. Buck, Engineering Electromagnetics, 9th ed.,

McGraw-Hill, 2019.

[2] R.F. Harrington, Introduction to Electromagnetic Engineering.

McGraw-Hill, 1958.

[3] R.F. Harrington, Time Harmonic Electromagnetic Fields. McGraw-

Hill, 1961.

[4] J. A. Edminster and M. Nahvi, Schaum’s Outline of Electromagnetics,

4th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2014.

ELEC 311 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves (2023 W2) Prof. David G. Michelson