ECE 

546 
Lecture 03
Waveguides
Spring 2022

Jose E. Schutt-Aine
Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Illinois
[email protected]

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 1
 Parallel-Plate Waveguide
Maxwell’s Equations   2 E   2  E  0

2E 2E 2E

x+ x+ x = - 2  E
x
x 2 y 2 z 2

2 Ey 2 Ey 2 Ey
+ + = - 2  E y
x 2 y 2 z 2

 2 Ez  2 Ez  2 Ez
+ + = - 2
 Ez
x 2
y 2
z 2

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 2
 TE Modes
For a parallel-plate waveguide, the plates are infinite in the y-
extent; we need to study the propagation in the z-direction. The
following assumptions are made in the wave equation
  
  0, but  0 and 0
y x z
 Assume Ey only

These two conditions define the TE modes and the wave

equation is simplified to read

2 Ey 2 Ey
+ = - 2  E y (¥)
x 2
z 2

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 3
 Phasor Solution
General solution (forward traveling wave)

E y ( x, z )  e  j  z z  Ae  j  x x  Be  j  x x 

At x = 0, Ey = 0 which leads to A + B = 0. Therefore,

A = -B = Eo/2j, where Eo is an arbitrary constant

Ey ( x, z )  Eo e j z z sin  x x

a is the distance separating the two PEC plates

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 4
 Dispersion Relation
At x = a, Ey(x, z) = 0  Eo e  j  z z sin  x a  0

This leads to: xa= m, where m = 1, 2, 3, ...

m
x 
a
Moreover, from the differential equation (¥), we get the dispersion
relation
z2   x2   2    2

2
 m 
which leads to  z   2    
 a 

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 5
 Guidance Condition
2
 m 
 z   2    
 a 

where m = 1, 2, 3 ... Since propagation is to take place in the z

direction, for the wave to propagate, we must have z2 > 0, or
2
 m 
   
2

 a 
This leads to the following guidance condition which will
insure wave propagation
m
f 
2a 

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 6
 Cutoff Frequency
The cutoff frequency fc is defined to be at the onset of propagation

m v 2a
fc  c  =
2a  fc m

Each mode is referred to as the TEm mode. It is obvious that

there is no TE0 mode and the first TE mode is the TE1 mode.

The cutoff frequency is the frequency below which the mode

associated with the index m will not propagate in the waveguide.
Different modes will have different cutoff frequencies.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 7
Magnetic Field for TE Modes
From   E = - j H

xˆ yˆ zˆ
1
we have H  
0 
j x z

0 Ey 0
which leads to
z
Hx   Eoe j z sin  x x
z


j x
Hz   Eo e j z cos  x x
z


The magnetic field for TE modes has 2 components

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 8
 E & H Fields for TE Modes

As can be seen, there is no Hy component,

therefore, the TE solution has Ey, Hx and Hz only.

From the dispersion relation, it can be shown that the propagation

vector components satisfy the relations
z = sin, x = cos where  is the angle of incidence of the
propagation vector with the normal to the conductor plates.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 9
 Phase and Group Velocities
The phase and group velocities are given by

 c
v pz    f c2
z f c2 and vg   c 1 2
1 2  z f
f

The effective guide impedance is given by:

Ey o
TE  
H x f c2
1 2
f

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 10
Transverse Magnetic (TM) Modes
The magnetic field also satisfies the wave equation:

Maxwell’s Equations   2 H +  2  H =0

2 H x 2 H x 2 H x
+ + = - 2
 H x
x 2
y 2
z 2

2 H y 2 H y 2 H y
+ + = - 2  H y
x 2 y 2 z 2

2 H z 2 H z 2 H z
+ + = - 2
 H z
x 2
y 2
z 2

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 11
 TM Modes
For TM modes, we assume
  
  0, but  0 and 0
y x z
Assume Hy only
These two conditions define the TM modes and the equations are
simplified to read
2H y 2H y
+ = - 2  H y
x 2 z 2
General solution (forward traveling wave)

H y ( x, z )  e  j  z z  Ae  j  x x  Be  j  x x 

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 12
Electric Field for TM Modes
From   H = -j E

xˆ yˆ zˆ
1
we get E 
0 
j x z

0 Hy 0

This leads to
 z  j z
Ex ( x, z )  e z
 Ae j x  Be j x 
x x


 x  j z
E z ( x, z )  e z
  Ae j x  Be j x 
x x



ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 13
 TM Modes Fields
At x=0, Ez = 0 which leads to A = B = Ho/2 where Ho is an arbitrary
constant. This leads to

H y ( x, z )  H o e j z z cos  x x
z
Ex ( x, z )  H oe j z cos  x x
z


j x
E z ( x, z )  H o e j z sin  x x
z



At x =a, Ez = 0 which leads to

xa = m, where m = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 14
 E & H Fields for TM Modes

m
x 
a
This defines the TM modes which have only Hy, Ex and Ez
components.

The effective guide impedance is given by:

Ex f c2
TM   o 1  2
Hy f
The electric field for TM modes has 2 components

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 15
 E & H Fields for TM Modes
THE DISPERSION RELATION, GUIDANCE CONDITION
AND CUTOFF EQUATIONS FOR A PARALLEL-PLATE
WAVEGUIDE ARE THE SAME FOR TE AND TM MODES.

This defines the TM modes; each mode is referred to as the TMm

mode. It can be seen from that m=0 is a valid choice; it is called the
TM0, or transverse electromagnetic or TEM mode. For this mode
and,

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 16
 TEM Mode
x=0 and z = . There are no x variations of the fields within the
waveguide. The TEM mode has a cutoff frequency at DC and is
always present in the waveguide.
H y  H o e  j z z The propagation 
z  j z  characteristics of the 
Ex  H oe  z
H o e j z z
TEM mode do not 
  vary with frequency
Ez  0

The TEM mode is the fundamental mode on a

parallel-plate waveguide
ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 17
 Power for TE Modes
1
Time-Average Poynting Vector P  Re E  H *
2
TE modes
1

P  Re yˆ E y   xˆ H x*  zˆ H z* 
2


1  Eo
2
Eo
2

P  Re  zˆ  z sin  x x  xˆ j
2
 x cos  x x sin  x x 
2    
2
Eo
P  zˆ  z sin 2  x x
2

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 18
 Power for TM Modes
TM modes
1
P  Re  xˆ E x  zˆ E z   yˆ H *y 
2
1  Ho 2
Ho
2

P  Re  zˆ  z cos  x x  xˆ j
2
 x sin  x x cos  x x 
2    
2
Ho
P  zˆ  z cos 2  x x
2
The total time-average power is found by integrating <P>
over the area of interest.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 19
 Waveguide
Maxwell’s Equations   2 E   2  E  0

2E 2E 2E

x+ x+ x = - 2  E
x
x 2 y 2 z 2

2 Ey 2 Ey 2 Ey
+ + = - 2  E y
x 2 y 2 z 2

 2 Ez  2 Ez  2 Ez
+ + = - 2
 Ez
x 2
y 2
z 2

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 20
 TE Modes
For a waveguide with arbitrary cross section as shown in the
above figure, we assume a plane wave solution and as a first trial,
we set Ez = 0. This defines the TE modes.
H
From   E   , we have
t
Ez E y H x
     j  z E y   j H x (1)
y z t

Ex Ez H y
     j  z Ex   j H y (2)
z x t
E y Ex H z E y Ex
       j H z (3)
x y t x y

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 21
 TE Modes
xˆ yˆ zˆ
From   H  j E, we get   
j E 
x y z
Hx Hy Hz

H z H y H z
  j Ex   j  z H y  j Ex (4)
y z y
H x H z H z
  j E y   j  z H x   j E y (5)
z x x
H y H x
  0 (6)
x y
We want to express all quantities in terms of Hz.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 22
 TE Modes
 z Ex
From (2), we have H y 

H z 2 Ex
in (4)  j z  j Ex
y 
j H z
Solving for Ex Ex  2
 z   2  y
 z Ey
From (1) H x 

 z2 E y H z
in (5) j   j E y
 x
 j H z
so that Ey  2
 z   2  x

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 23
 TE Modes
j z H z
Hy  2
 z   2  y

j z H z
Hx  2
 z   2  x

Ez = 0
Combining solutions for Ex and Ey into (3) gives

2 H z 2 H z
  
  2
z   2
  H z (¥)
x 2
y 2

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 24
 Rectangular Waveguide

2 H z 2 H z
  
  2
z   2
  H z (¥)
x 2
y 2

If the cross section of the waveguide is a rectangle, we have a

rectangular waveguide and the boundary conditions are such
that the tangential electric field is zero on all the PEC walls.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 25
 TE Modes
The general solution for TE modes with Ez=0 is obtained from (¥)

 j y  j y
H z  e  j z z  Ae  j x x  Be  j x x  Ce y  De y 

 x  j z  j x  j x
  j y  j y

Ey  2 e 
  Ae z
 Be x

 Ce 
x
De y y

 z   
2 

  y
Ex  e  j z z
 Ae  j x x  Be  j x x   Ce  j y y  De  j y y 
   
2 2  
z

At y=0, Ex=0 which leads to C=D

At x=0, Ey=0 which leads to A=B

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 26
 TE Modes
H z  H o e j z z cos  x x cos  y y (§)
j  x  j z z
Ey  2 H e sin  x x cos  y y
 z   
2 o

 j  y
Ex  H o e  j z z cos  x x sin  y y
 z2   2 
m
At x=a, Ey=0 which leads to  x 
a
n
At y=b, Ex=0 which leads to  y 
b
The general solution for TE modes with Ez=0 is

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 27
 Dispersion Relation
The dispersion relation is obtained by placing (§) in (¥)
z2   x2  z2   2  (23)

2 2
 m   n 
 
     2
z   2
 (24)
 a   b 

2 2
 m   n 
 z     
2
   (25)
 a   b 
The guidance condition is
2 2
 m   n 
   
2
   (26)
 a   b 
ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 28
 Guidance Condition
or f > fc where fc is the cutoff frequency of the TEmn mode
given by the relation

2 2
1 m n
fc     
2   a  b

The TEmn mode will not propagate unless f is greater than fc.

Obviously, different modes will have different cutoff frequencies.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 29
 TM Mode
The transverse magnetic modes for a general waveguide are obtained
by assuming Hz =0. By duality with the TE modes, we have

 2 Ez  2 Ez
  
  2
z   2
  Ez
x 2
y 2

Ez  e  j z z
 Ae  j x x  Be  j x x  Ce  j y y  De  j y y 
 

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 30
 TM Mode
The boundary conditions are

At x=0, Ez=0 which leads to A=-B

At y=0, Ez=0 which leads to C=-D

m
At x=a, Ez=0 which leads to  x 
a
n
At y=b, Ez=0 which leads to  y 
b

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 31
 TM and TE Modes
so that the generating equation for the TMmn modes is

Ez  Eo e j z z sin  x x sin  y y

NOTE: THE DISPERSION RELATION, GUIDANCE

CONDITION AND CUTOFF EQUATIONS FOR A
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE ARE THE SAME FOR TE
AND TM MODES.

For additional information on the field equations

see Rao (6th Edition), page 607, Table 9.1.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 32
 TE and TM Modes

There is no TE00 mode

There are no TMm0 or TM0n modes

The first TE mode is the TE10 mode

The first TM mode is the TM11 mode

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 33
 Impedance of a Waveguide
For a TE mode, we define the transverse impedance as
Ey Ex 
 gTE   
Hx H y z

From the relationship for z and using

1 m n 
 2 2

we get fc 
2
     
4  a   b  

 
 gTE  where  is th intrinsic impedance  
f c2 
1 2
f

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 34
 Impedance of a Waveguide
Analogously, for TM modes, it can be shown that

f c2
 gTM   1 2
f

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 35
 Power Flow in a Waveguide
TE10 Mode
The time-average Poynting vector for the TE10 mode in a
rectangular waveguide is given by
2
1 z 2 x Eo
 *

P  Re E× H   z
ˆ sin
2 2  a
2
a b Eo z 2 x
Power    sin dxdy
0 0 2  a
2 2
Eo  z ab Eo ab
Power  
4  4  gTE10
The time-average power flow in a waveguide is
proportional to its cross-section area.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 36
 Circular Waveguide ‐ Fields
For a waveguide with arbitrary cross section, it is 
known that
2 H z 2 H z
TE Modes   
  2
z   2
  H z (1)
x 2
y 2

 2 Ez  2 Ez
TM Modes   
  2
z   2
  Ez (2)
x 2
y 2

We first assume TM modes in cylindrical coordinates:
 2 Ez 1 Ez 1  2 Ez
r 2

r r r 
 2 2
   2
  2
  Ez  0
  
tr2 E z
   j z
See Reference [6].

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 37
 Circular Waveguide – TM Modes
Solution will be in the form
E z  r ,    f  r  g  

Which after substitution gives

r d  df  2 2 1 d 2g
r  h r   (3)
f dr  dr  g d 2

where h 2   2   2 

For equality in (3) to hold, both sides must be equal to the 
same constant say n2 where n is an integer in view of the 
azimuthal symmetry since the fields must be periodic in .

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 38
 Circular Waveguide – TM Modes
d 2g
 n 2
g 0 (4)
d 2

d 2 f 1 df  2 n 2 
2
 h  2  f  0 (5)
dr r dr  r 
Solution of (4) is of the form
g    C1 cos  n   C2 sin  n  (6)

(5) is Bessel’s equation and has solution
f  r   C3 J n  hr   C4Yn  hr  (7)
Jn and Yn are the nth order Bessel functions of the first and 
second kinds respectively

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 39
Bessel Functions of the First Kind
 1  x / 2 
r n 2 r

Jn  x  
r 0 r !  n  r  1

  n  1  n !

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 40
 Circular Waveguide – TM Modes
Yn has singularity at 0 and must consequently be discarded 
 C4 = 0. The general solution then becomes

Ez  r ,    C3 J n  hr  C1 cos  n   C2 sin  n  

Since the origin for is arbitrary, the expression can be 
written as:
Ez  r ,    Cn J n  hr  cos  n 
where Cn is a constant. The boundary condition Etan = 0 
requires that
Ez  r ,    0 for r  a
Solution exists for only discrete values of h such that 
J n  ha   0
ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 41
 Circular Waveguide – TM Modes
ha must be a root of the nth order Bessel function.  If we 
assume that tnl is the lth root of Jn, we can define a set of 
eigenvalues hnl for the TM modes so that:
t
hTM nl  nl
a
lth root of Jn(.)=0
n 0 1 2
l Each choice of n and l
1 2.405 3.832 5.136
specifies a particular 
2 5.520 7.016 8.417
solution or mode
3 8.654 13.323 11.620

n is related to the number of circumferential variations 
and l describes the number of radial variations of the field.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 42
 Circular Waveguide – TM Modes
The propagation constant of the nlth propagating TM mode is:
2 1/2
 2  tnl  
TM       
nl
  a  
The propagation occurs for  < cTMnl or f > fcTMnl where the 
cutoff frequency and wavelength can be found from  = 0 as:

2 a tnl
cTMnl  f cTMnl 
tnl 2 a 
The other field components can be obtained from Ez

 tnl 
E z  Cn J n  r  cos  n  e  jnl z
a 

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 43
 Circular Waveguide – TE Modes
The solutions for the TE modes can be found in a similar 
manner except that we solve for Hz(r,) to get:
H z  r ,    Cn J n  hr  cos  n 
To apply the boundary condition Etan = 0, we require 
H z
to be 0 at r = a 
r
H z
We must have nˆ tr H z   0 at r  a
r
For this, we need the zeros of Jn’(u) given by snl. The 
propagation constant, cutoff frequency and wavelength 
have the same expressions as in the TM case with tnl snl.  

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 44
 Circular Waveguide – TE Modes
The propagation constant of the nlth propagating TE mode is:
2 1/2
 2  snl  
TE       
nl
  a  

lth root of Jn‘(.)=0
n 0 1 2 From the tables, it can 
l
1 3.832 1.841 3.054 be seen that the lowest 
2 7.016 5.331 6.706 cutoff frequency is the 
3 10.173 8.536 9.969 TE11 mode.
and for TE modes,
 snl 
H z  Cn J n  r  cos  n  e  jnl z
 a 
ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 45
Circular Waveguide – TE & TM Modes

See Reference [6].

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 46
TE11 Mode in Circular Waveguide

E
See Reference [1].
H
ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 47
Modes in Circular Waveguide

TE11 E
H

See Reference [1].

TM11
ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 48
 Example: Circular Waveguide Design
Design an air‐filled circular waveguide such that only the 
dominant mode will propagate over a bandwidth of 10 GHz.

Solution: the cutoff frequency of the TE11 mode is the lower 
bound of the bandwidth.
1.8412c
f cTE11 
2 a
The next mode is the TM01 with cutoff frequency:

2.4049c
f cTM 01 
2 a

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 49
 Example: Circular Waveguide Design

The BW is the difference between these two frequencies
c
BW  f cTM 01  f cTE11   2.4049  1.8412   10GHz
2 a

From which we find a = 0.269 cm

So that

f cTE11  32.7 GHz and f cTM11  42.76 GHz

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 50
 Coaxial Waveguide

• Most common two-conductor transmission system

• Dielectric filling in most microwave applications is
polyethylene or Teflon

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 51
 Coaxial Waveguide – TEM Mode

• Two-conductor system  Dominant mode is TEM

• Tangential E-field and normal H field must be 0 in
conductor surfaces
E  0 and H r  0 at r  a, b

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 52
 Coaxial Waveguide – TEM Mode
TEM solution can exist only with
ˆ r  r , z  and H  ˆH   r , z 
E  rE
with no  dependence because of azimuthal symmetry

we get
H 
  j Er  j  Ho  r   j Ero  r 
z
1 H  1 o H o
 H   0   H  r   0
r r r r

Where propagation in z direction is assumed. 

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 53
 Coaxial Waveguide – TEM Mode
We get
H H o  j z
H  ˆ o e  j z E  rˆ e
r r
where Ho is a constant. No cutoff condition for TEM mode.
The voltage between the two conductors is given by
V  z    H o ln  b / a  e  j z
The current in the inner conductor is given by
I  z   2 H o e  j z
The characteristic impedance Zo is thus given by
ln(b / a )
Zo  
2
ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 54
 Coaxial Waveguide – TE and TM Modes
TE and TM modes may also exist in addition to TEM.  In a 
coaxial line, they are generally undesirable. 
For TM modes, we have:
Ezo  r ,    C3 J n  hr   C4Yn  hr   cos  n 
For TE modes, we have:
H zo  r ,    C3' J n  hr   C4' Yn  hr   cos  n 
With boundary conditions at r =a, b of
Ez  r ,    0 for TM modes
H z
 0 for TE modes
r

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 55
 Coaxial Waveguide – TE and TM Modes

These conditions lead to

J n  ha  Yn  hb   J n  hb  Yn  ha  for TM modes

J n'  ha  Yn'  hb   J n'  hb  Yn'  ha  for TE modes

Solutions of these transcendental equations determine 
the eigenvalues of h for given a, b.  As in the circular 
waveguide case, the modes for coaxial waveguide are 
denoted TEnl and TMnl. 

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 56
 Coaxial Waveguide – TE and TM Modes

The mode with the lowest cutoff frequency is the TE11
mode for which the eigenvalue h is approximated as:
2
h
ab
The cutoff frequency and cutoff wavelength are given by

2 1
c11     a  b  and f c11 
h   a  b  

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 57
Coaxial Waveguide – TE and TM Modes

TM01

See Reference [3].

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 58
 References
[1]. C. S. Lee, S. W. Lee, and S. L. Chuang, "Plot of modal field distribution in
rectangular and circular waveguides", IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and
Techniques, 33(3), pp. 271-274, March 1985.

[2]. J. H. Bryant, "Coaxial transmission lines, related two-conductor transmission

lines, connectors, and components: A U.S. historical perspective", IEEE Trans.
Microwave Theory and Techniques, 32(9), pp. 970-983, September 1984.

[3]. H. A. Atwater, "Introduction to Microwave Theory", p. 76, McGraw-Hill, New

York, 1962.

[4]. N. Marcuvitz, "Waveguide Handbook", IEEE Press, Piscataway, New Jersey,

1986.

[5]. S. Ramo, J. R. Whinnery, and T. Van Duzer, "Fields and Waves in

Communication Electronics", John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1994.

[6]. U. S. Inan and A. S. Inan, "Electromagnetice Waves", Prentice Hall, 2000.

ECE 546 – Jose Schutt‐Aine 59