ECE 107: Electromagnetism

Set 7: Plane waves

Instructor: Prof. Eric Fullerton
Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
University of California, San Diego, CA 92093
 Maxwell’s Equations
B
E  
t
D
H  J
t
D  
B  0
“From a long view of the history of mankind —
seen from, say, ten thousand years from now,
there can be little doubt that the most
significant event of the 19th century will be
(1831 – 1879) judged as Maxwell's discovery of the laws of
electrodynamics”. –R. P. Feynman
 Maxwell’s equations
Lossless case: D = e0E and B = m0H,  = 0 and J=0

E   m
H
0 t

 E   m 
0 t

H 
use    
    E     E   2 E   2 E
0

  E   m0  H
2 
t
 use   H  e 0
E
t
 
2 2

m
E E
 e
2

m 0 e 0 t 2  
E

2
E   0 Assume z direction only 0
z t
2 0 0 2

Similar equations for B

 Maxwell’s equations
Lossless case: D = e0E and B = m0H,  = 0 and J=0

 E  E  B  B
2 2 2 2
e 0 m 0 e 0 m 0
z t z t
2 0 2 2 0 2

   
E  E 0 cos(t  kz ) B  B0 cos(t  kz )
 = 2pf is the angular frequency where f is the frequency
k is the wavenumber: k = 2p/l where l is the wavelength
velocity is given by /k = lf = (e0m0)1/2 = c = 3 x 108 m/s
From Faraday’s Law: kE0 = B0 or B0 = E0/c and E and B are orthogonal
Showed that light is an electromagnetic wave and merged the fields of electricity ,
magnetism and optics.
Dynamic fields

l = c/frequency
 Wave equation
• Source-free lossless Maxwell’s equations
  E   jm H  e E  0
  H  je E   mH  0
• Apply curl     E   jm   H   2E   2 me E  0
 (E)  2 E je E
0

• Helmholtz equation (HE)

 2E  k 2E  0 k 2   2 me
2H  k 2H  0 wavenumber

• In Cartesian coordinates (2  k 2 ) Ex, y, z  0

Plane waves in free space (1)
• Radiation from a uniform surface current J s |z 0  xˆ J s 0
–   x   y  0  E  Ex xˆ , H  H y yˆ
– Maxwell’s eqs. reduce to TL equations!
dEx
  jm H y x
dz Js
dH y z
  je Ex y
dz
– Helmholtz equations reduce to
d 2 Ex d 2H y
 k 2 Ex  0,  k 2H y  0
dz 2 dz 2

E
– Solutions Ex  Ex0e jkz , H y  x 0 e jkz

  m e , Ex0   J s0 2
Plane waves in free space (2)
• Plane waves solutions are similar to TL solutions!
– Frequency domain expressions

E( z )  xˆ E x0e jkz  E x0e jkz 
 E   jkz E  jkz 
H ( z )  yˆ  x 0 e  x0 e 
   
 
– Time domain expressions

E(t , z )  xˆ | E x0 | cos(t  kz    ) | E x0 | cos(t  kz    ) 
 | E |  | E 
| 

H (t , z )  yˆ  x 0 cos(t  kz   )  x 0 cos(t  kz   ) 
   
– Parameters  
• Phase velocity v p  1 me   k (1 m0e 0  2 10 )
8

• Wavelength l  2p k  v p f
• Characteristic (intrinsic) impedance   m e (0  m0 e 0 =120p )
Plane waves in free space (3)
• Equivalence between plane waves and TL waves
– Replace V  E , I  H , Z 0  
– The resulting waves will have the same behavior

1
I V
Ex Z0
ẑ
1 V
Hy  Ex

Plane waves in free space (4)
• Relation between E & H and propagating direction
– Let kˆ  xˆ sin  cos   yˆ sin  sin   zˆ cos be the propagation
direction of a plane wave with  &  being angles
– General solutions E  E0e jk kˆ r , H  H0e jk kˆ r
– Field-direction relations
1 1ˆ
H 0  kˆ  E0 H  k E
 or 
E0   kˆ  H 0 E   kˆ  H

– Plane waves are TEM waves E  kˆ , H  kˆ , E  H

– E, H, kˆ form a right-handed triple
– Plane waves satisfy Maxwell’s and Helmholtz equations
Plane waves in free space (5)
• Examples E  xˆ Ex
kˆ  zˆ
– kˆ  zˆ , Ex  Ex e jkz  H y  Ex  ˆ  yˆ H 
H y
E  yˆ E y
– kˆ  zˆ , E y  E y e jkz  H x   E y 
H  xˆ H x
– Any combination of the two above
– Parallel polarization (TM field) x̂
k̂
kˆ  xˆ sin   zˆ cos  , H  yˆ H y e jk ( x sin   z cos  ) E

 jk ( x sin   z cos  ) H  yˆ H y
 E   H y (xˆ cos 
ẑ
 zˆ sin  )e
– Perpendicular polarization (TE field)
x̂
kˆ  xˆ sin   zˆ cos  , E  yˆ E y e jk ( x sin   z cos  )
k̂
E  yˆ E y 
E y ẑ
H (xˆ cos   zˆ sin  )e jk ( x sin   z cos  ) H

 Plane waves in free space (6)
Wave polarization

where

Linear polarization occurs for d = 0 or p

An example is shown to the right.

 Plane waves in free space (8)
Circular polarization occurs for d = +/- p/2

The magnitude of the E-field

is constant but rotates with
either right or left handed
chirality.
 Plane waves in free space (9)
A quarter-wave plate consists of a carefully adjusted thickness of a birefringent material (where er depends on the
direction in the crystal) such that the light associated with the larger index of refraction is retarded by 90° in phase
(a quarter wavelength) with respect to that associated with the smaller index. The material is cut so that the optic
axis is parallel to the front and back plates of the plate. Any linearly polarized light which strikes the plate will be
divided into two components with different indices of refraction. One of the useful applications of this device is to
convert linearly polarized light to circularly polarized light and vice versa. This is done by adjusting the plane of
the incident light so that it makes 45° angle with the optic axis.

fast direction, er small

slow direction, er large

 Plane waves in free space (10)
Circular polarization occurs for d = +/- p/2

A half-wave plate. Linearly polarized light

entering a wave plate can be resolved into two
waves, parallel (shown as green) and
perpendicular (blue) to the optical axis of the wave
plate. In the plate, the parallel wave propagates
slightly slower than the perpendicular one. At the
far side of the plate, the parallel wave is exactly
half of a wavelength delayed relative to the
perpendicular wave, and the resulting combination
(red) is orthogonally polarized compared to its
entrance state.
 Plane waves in free space (11)
Most general case and
Plane waves in free space (12)
• Power flow (1)
– Poynting vector 𝐒 = 𝐄 × 𝐇 (WΤm2 )
• S is the power density (power per unit area)
• It shows the strength AND direction of power flow
– Power through a surface

ෝ 𝑑𝐴
𝑷=ඵ 𝑺∙𝒏 (W/m2 )
𝐴
– Average power density
1
𝐒𝐚𝐯 = ℜ𝑒 𝐄෨ × 𝐇
෩∗ (W/m2 )
2
P 𝑧, 𝑡 = 𝜐 𝑧, 𝑡 𝑖(𝑧, 𝑡)
– This is analogous to TLs! 1
𝑃𝑎𝑣 (𝑧) = ℜ𝑒 V ෩(𝑧)ሚI ∗ (𝑧)
2
Plane waves in free space (13)
• Power flow (2)
– Example: Plane waves in a lossless medium
𝐄෨ 𝑧 = 𝐱ො 𝐸෨𝑥 (z) + 𝐲ො 𝐸෨𝑦 (z) = (ො𝐱 𝐸𝑥0 + 𝐲ො 𝐸𝑦0 )𝑒 −𝑗𝑘𝑧
1 1
𝐇 𝑧 = 𝐳ො × 𝐄෨ =
෩ ( −ො𝐱 𝐸𝑦0 + 𝐲ො 𝐸𝑥0 )𝑒 −𝑗𝑘𝑧
𝜂 𝜂

2
1 2 2 𝐄෨
𝐒𝐚𝐯 = 𝐳ො 𝐸𝑥𝑜 + 𝐸𝑦𝑜 = 𝐳ො (W/m2)
2𝜂 2𝜂

1
1 2 2
where 𝐄෨ = (𝐄෨ ∙ 𝐄෨ )2
∗ = 𝐸𝑥𝑜 2 + 𝐸𝑦𝑜
 Plane waves in a lossy media
• Plane waves in lossy media

– e  ec  e  j  e   je 

–  wave equation
 2E   2E  0  = a + jb

– Consider kˆ  zˆ , E  xˆ Ex
෩ 𝑥 (𝑧) = 𝐸𝑥0 𝑒 −𝛼𝑧 𝑒 −𝑗𝛽𝑧 = 𝐸𝑥0 𝑒 −𝛼𝑧
𝑬
1
– Skin depth 𝛿𝑠 = (m)
𝛼
– Dielectrics vs. conductors
• e  e  <<1
1  good dielectric (large d s )
• e  e  >>1
1  good conductor (small d s )
 Plane waves in free space
• Why are plane waves (PWs) important?
– PWs are simple solutions of Maxwell’s equations
allowing learning many important wave properties
– Fields radiated by antennas are local plane waves
– Plane waves allow “canonical solution” of several
important problems, e.g. reflection from an interface
– Any field/current can be represented (expanded) as an
integral/summation of a set of plane waves
– Plane wave representations allow for solving many
important problems