Lecture 13

Boundary Conditions at
Dielectric Interfaces
Sections: 6.2 (in 8th ed.: 5.8)
Homework: See homework file

LECTURE 13

slide

BCs for the Tangential Field Components 1

we consider interfaces between two perfect ( = 0) dielectric regions
use conservative property of field
choose contour across interface

0
E dL =
C

contour is small enough to consider field constant along its line

segments
En(2)

En(1)

E(2)

(2)
Etan1
(1) l2
E
(1) tan1

w
l3

h l4

l1

region 2
an 2
a tan11
region 1

(1)
(2)
Etan1
l1 + 0.5( En(1) + En(2) )l2 + Etan1
l3 0.5( En(1) + En(2) )l4 =
0
LECTURE 13

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BCs for the Tangential Field Components 2

take limit when h 0
(1)
(2)
(1)
(2)
Etan1
w + Etan1
w = 0 Etan1
= Etan1

the same is proven for the other pair of tangential field components
with a contour along atan2 and an
(1)
(2)
Etan2
= Etan2

boundary condition for Etan in vector form

=
E(1,2)
tan

(1,2)
Etan1
a tan1

(1,2)
Etan2
a tan2

(2)
E(1)
=
E
tan
tan

the tangential E component is continuous across dielectric interface

LECTURE 13

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BCs for the Tangential Field Components 3

equivalent vector formulation
a n E = a n ( Ena n + E tan ) = a n E tan

an

(2)
(1)
(2)
E(1)
=
E

E
=
a

E
n
n
tan
tan
tan
tan

a n (E

(2)

E tan

E ) =
0
(1)

a n E tan

the tangential components of the flux density

D(1)
tan

(1)
D
1
D(2)
tan
tan
=
=
(2)
Dtan 2
2

the tangential D component is discontinuous

when medium 1 is a perfect conductor (particular case)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(1)
E=
E
=
0,
D
=
D
=
0
tan
tan
tan
tan
LECTURE 13

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BCs for the Normal Field Components 1

apply Gauss law over a closed surface centered around the interface

an

Dn(2) lx
an
ds
h
(2)
A = lx l y Dtan

ly
2
region 2
a tan2
a tan1
region 1

lim

h 0

S
ds

D(1)
tan

Dn(1)

(2)
(1)
(

d
=
D

D
D
s
n
n ) A= Qf = 0

Dn(2) =
Dn(1) 2 En(2) =
1En(1)

En(2) 1
=
(1)
2
En

the normal D component is continuous while the normal E

component is discontinuous across dielectric interfaces
LECTURE 13

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BCs for the Normal Field Components 2

Medium 1 of r(1) = 4 is located in the region x < 0. Medium 2 of r(2)
= 1 is located in the region x 0. The field components in medium
1 are: Ex(1)= 4 V/m, E y(1)= 3 V/m, and Ez(1)= 1 V/m. What are the
field components in medium 2?
Ex(2) =
E y(2) =
Ez(2) =

LECTURE 13

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BCs for the Normal Field Components 3

when medium 1 is a perfect conductor
(2)
(1)

D
d
s
D
D
(
n
n ) A = Q f = sf A

h 0

lim

Dn(2)
=

(2)
=
,
E
sf
n

sf
0 r 2

(1)
(1)
D=
E
=
0
n
n

we have already derived this BC in Lecture 11

LECTURE 13

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Dielectric Interfaces: Orientation of Field Vectors (Homework)

the tangential E component is continuous while the normal one is not
the E field vector changes its orientation abruptly
Prove that:

tan 2 2
=
tan 1 1
En(2) = 2 En(1)

E(2)

r2
r1 = 2 r 2

(1)
Etan

(1)

(2)
Etan
En(1)

LECTURE 13

(1)
Etan

an

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Field Map at Dielectric Interfaces

Example: Determine approximately the permittivity of a
dielectric slab from the field map at the air-dielectric interface
tan 2 2
=
tan 1 1

E(2)
V
=
t
ns

tan 1
r1 =
tan 2

co

tan 2
1
=
tan 1 r1

r2 = 1
r1 = ?

an

2
E(1)

LECTURE 13

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You have learned:

that the tangential E component is continuous across interfaces,
both dielectric-to-dielectric and PEC-to-dielectric
that the normal D component is continuous across dielectric
interfaces; it is discontinuous across PEC-to-dielectric interfaces
due to the presence of free surface charge
how to interpret field maps at interfaces

LECTURE 13

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