Lecture 2

Content
Electric and magnetic field
Polarization
Transmission and reflection
Human health calculations
Induced current and resonance
Skin depth
Specific Absorption Rate
Field
The gravitational field of the
earth is a vector (direction) field
directed towards the center of
the earth.
Magnitude of the field depends
on the altitude of the mass from
the earths surface.
Static Electric Field

Electric Field Intensity of a positive charge is the outward radial

direction and has a magnitude proportional to the charge and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the charge.
Coulombs law states that the force between two charged bodies
that are very small in comparison to the distance of the separation is
proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional
to the square of the distance. The direction of the force is along the
line connecting the two charges. Coulomb also found that, like
charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other.
Static Electric Field (Demo)

+q1
=a

+q1 +q2

=a

Property of the dielectric media, 10 /

Electric Field line charge
The electric field caused by a
continuous distribution of charge can
be obtained by integrating
(superposing) the contribution of an L X
element of charge over the charge
distribution.

1
/
4
Example
A negative point charge 10nC is situated in air at the
origin of a rectangular coordinate system. What is the
electric field intensity at a point on the positive x axis 3m
from the origin?
Example:
A charge Q1 of 1nC is situated at the origin (x=0, y=0),
and a charge Q2 of -2nC is situated on the y-axis 1m from
the origin (x=0, y=1), as shown in the figure. Find the total
electric field intensity at the point P on the x-axis 2m from
the origin (x=2, y=0).
y

Q2

1m

P
Q1
x
2m
Static Magnetic Field N

S
There is no magnetic flow sources, and
the magnetic flux lines always close
upon themselves. Law of conservation of
magnetic flux.
N N N
Permanent magnet does not mean an
isolated positive magnetic charge at S
north pole and negative magnetic charge N
at south pole. S S
Designation of north and south poles is N N
in accordance with earths* magnetic
field when the magnet is freely S

suspended in it. N
* Earths magnetic field is thought to be produced by rolling
motions of the molten iron in the earths outer core. S S S
Pole expected to reverse every ten million years or so.
Magnetic field (Demo)
For an infinitely long straight conductor, Ampheres law
states that the magnetic flux density in free space around
any closed path is equal to times the total current
flowing through the surface bounded by the path.

/ or T

4 10 /
Magnetic field
Magentic field caused by a current in
a closed path
Biot-Savart law:

1
/
4 X
Electric and Magnetic fields
Polarization
Linear

Circular and elliptical

Normal Incident on Boundary
Reflection Coefficient

Medium 1 Medium 2
Transmission Coefficient

Ei Et

1 Hi i Ht t
Where
Incident wave Transmitted wave
()
Er
is the permeability and
r Hr
is the permittivity (can be
X
complex for conductors or
Reflected wave
semi-conductors).
(F/m)
is the conductivity.
Oblique Incident - Perpendicular
Reflection Coefficient
Medium 1 Medium 2

Hi
Ei X
Transmission i
Ht
Coefficient Incident wave
Et
i
X
r t
t
Er
X

1 r
Hr
Transmitted wave
Reflected wave
Oblique Incident - Parallel
Reflection Coefficient
Medium 1 Medium 2
Ei
Hi

Transmission i
Et
Coefficient Incident wave
i Ht

r t t
Er

X
1 ( r Hr
Transmitted wave

Reflected wave
Example
A plane wave propagates from medium 1 (air) into
medium 2 (=60).
If the wave has a normal incident on the boundary,
calculate the transmission and reflection coefficients.
If the wave incidents onto the boundary at an angle or
30, calculate the transmission and reflection coefficients
for both the parallel and perpendicular waves.

L
Electromagnetic wave and Public
Health

L
Electromagnetic fields and public health:
The effects of external exposure to EMF on the human body
and its cells depend mainly on the EMF frequency and
magnitude or strength. The frequency simply describes the
number of oscillations or cycles per second. At low frequencies,
EMF passes through the body while at higher frequencies the
fields are partially absorbed and penetrate only a short depth
into the tissue.
Low-frequency electric fields influence the distribution of
electric charges at the surface of conducting tissues and cause
electric current to flow in the body. Low-frequency magnetic
fields induce circulating currents within the human body. The
strength of these induced currents depends on the intensity of
the outside magnetic field and the size of the loop through
which the current flows. When sufficiently large, these currents
can cause stimulation of nerves and muscles.
Coupling Mechanisms
Absorption of energy:
100kHz to 20MHz, absorption in the trunk decreases rapidly with
decrease in frequency. Significant absorption in neck and legs.
- Limb currents.
20MHz to 300MHz, relatively high absorption in whole body. Higher
values if partial body (e.g. head) resonances are considered.
- Resonances.
300MHz to several GHz, significant local, non-uniform absorption.
- SAR.
10GHz and above, energy absorption occurs primarily at the body
surface.
- Skin depth.
 Limb current
SAR Skin depth
& Resonance
Significance of Effect

Frequency
Low Frequency 100kHz 300MHz
Limb current and Resonance
Coupling Mechanisms
Low frequency electric field:
E-field external to body induce a surface charge on the body. This
results in induced currents in the body, the distribution of which
depends on exposure conditions, on the size and shape of the
body, and on the bodys position in field.
Low frequency magnetic field:
Physical interaction with time varying magnetic fields results in
induced electric fields and circulation electric fields. Magnitude of
induced field and current density is proportional to radius of loop,
electric conductivity of tissue, and rate of change of magnetic field.
Electric field is strongest when loop dimension is greatest.
Limb currents
For frequencies up to 100MHz, studies have shown
induced currents in limbs, knees and ankles.
Induced current highest when human body is erect and
barefoot (earthed), and parallel to a vertical polarized
plane wave field.
Induced current in the leg for erected barefoot person
standing parallel to vertical E-field.
0.108 / )
Current when wearing shoes ranged from 0.8 to 0.82
times the barefoot current. (at lower frequencies, this ratio
is smaller, 0.62 to 0.64 at 1MHz, due to reduce in ground
impedance at high frequencies)
Example
Assuming that a vertical electric strength equivalent to a
charge of 10nC at a distance of 1m away at 90MHz. For a
person of height 1.8m standing barefooted, what is the
induced limb current?
Calculate the same for a frequency of 1MHz.
What are the limb currents if he has his shoes on?
Resonance
The resonance frequency is related to the height of an
erect person.
Resonance occurs when the height is approximately 0.36
to 0.4 wavelengths. A man of height 1.75m will have a
resonance frequency of 69MHz (if he is wearing insulating
shoes).
If the same man is wearing conductive shoes or standing
bare footed on the ground, the resonance frequency will
be half at 34MHz.
At resonance, a human absorbs energy 4.2 times greater
than that which might be expected from consideration of
the physical cross-section of the body. When earth, it is 8
about times!
Resonance
At the resonance frequency, the absorption of RF energy is at
a maximum (70MHz for this simulated human model).
Resonance

Dipole
0.5
Antenna Design
Man wearing insulating shoes
Rubber
(l = ). 2
shoes

Man bare footed standing on

ground (l = ). No
4
shoes

4
Dipole Frequency Response

Bandwidth can be 10% to 20%

Example (use 0.4)
Erect person height Resonance frequency Grounded resonance
(m) (MHz) frequency (MHz)
0.50
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75
Frequency 300MHz 10GHz
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)
How much is being absorbed?
Electromagnetic fields and public health:
SAR region
At higher radio frequencies (RF), the fields only penetrate
a short distance into the body. The energy of these fields
is absorbed and transformed into the movement of
molecules. Friction between rapidly moving molecules
results in a temperature rise. This effect is used in
domestic applications such as warming up food in
microwave ovens, and in many industrial applications
such as plastic welding or metal heating. The levels of RF
fields to which people are normally exposed in our living
environment are much lower than those needed to
produce significant heating.
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)
Used to measure the amount of absorption by biological
tissue of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation.
Power absorbed, P, per unit mass (W/kg).

/ )
In terms of E-field,

/ )
where is the specific conductivity (S/m) of the tissue and
is the density of the tissue (kg/m3).
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)
For the case of biological tissue,

/ )

where c is the specific heat and is the rate of change of

temperature with time.
To measure SAR,
Insert a micro-antenna to measure the E-field.
Insert a temperature sensor to measure the change in temperature
FDTD modeling and simulation.
SAR
For mobile phones and hand held devices, the SAR limit
is 2W/kg averaged over 10g of tissue.
Averaging
6 minutes
time
Whole Partial
Head SAR Local SAR
body SAR body SAR
Body exposed
whole body head head trunk extremities
Region body part
Operating
(W/kg) (W/kg) (W/kg) (W/kg) (W/kg) (W/kg)
Mode
Normal 2 2 - 10 3.2 10 10 20
Example
The specific heat capacity of some items are listed below:
Water 4186 Joule/kg/C
Air 1003 Joule/kg/C
Blood 3617 Joule/kg/C
Bone 1313 Joule/kg/C
Brain 3630 Joule/kg/C
Eye (Cornea) 3615 Joule/kg/C
Fat 2348 Joule/kg/C
Muscle 3421 Joule/kg/C
Ovary 3778 Joule/kg/C
Testes 3778 Joule/kg/C
If the temperature of the human body increases by 2C
after 30 minutes on the mobile phone, calculate the
specific absorption rate (SAR) of the items listed above.
Hot organs
Human body is made up of different tissues and organs.
Human body exposed to EMF absorbs energy in the form
of heat.
Due to complex mixtures of tissues, non-uniform heating
occurs.
Two hot organs are the eye and testes.
 Eye
Most experiments done on animals.
Cataract effects on human eye believed to be
around 1GHz to 10GHz.
Rabbit exposed to 2 to 3 hrs of EMF, temperate increase
from 41C to 44C, causing cataract.
Experiments on monkey did not cause cataract.
Reports of eye damage on rabbits at 35GHz and 107GHz.
Mixed reports on experiment done on mobile phone
frequencies on monkeys and rabbits due to different pulse
level and exposure time.
Testes
Experiments performed on mice and rats.
Reported that repeated heating of testes
decreases sperm count lasting for several weeks.
Norwegian Navy reports, 2 times more likely to be infertile
when exposed to high levels of EMF (millitary personal
working with RADAR).
Also reports less likely to have boys
compared to girls.
SAR?
To use absorption rate to study effects of EMF, is it
correct?
It is well known that cells, especially skin cells of living
organisms have endogenous, weak electric fields, that
controls physiological functions.
Wound healing
Tissue regeneration
Cell proliferation
External fields will interact with the endogenous fields
directly without an increase in temperature.
Frequency 10GHz and beyond
Skin depth
How far can it go?
Penetration
Medium 1 Medium 2

Ei
Et
i t

Hi Ht
Consider

@ 1cm or 0.01m,
@ 3cm or 0.03m,

Skin Depth
The distance through which the amplitude of the travelling EM
wave decreases by a factor of or 0.368 is called the Skin
Depth or the depth of penetration.
For a good conductor,

A medium is considered a good conductor if 1.

For biological materials, is of the order of one (0.1
10) over a very wide range of frequencies.
Therefore, the general form of skin depth is used.
1
/
1 1
2
Example
How far will a 12GHz electromagnetic field penetrate
through the following:
Dry skin: conductivity = 0.478, relative permittivity =
76.728
Wet skin: conductivity = 0.5146, relative permittivity =
68.144
Breast fat: conductivity = 0.0298, relative permittivity =
5.713
Tooth: conductivity = 0.031, relative permittivity = 25.8
Muscle: conductivity = 0.7028, relative permittivity =
67.219
Repeat for 900MHz.
Skin effects
Skin effects becomes significant on human and larger
animals at a frequency > 10MHz.
Skin depth for muscle
tissue with frequency.
RF penetration in human tissue
Amount of incident RF absorbed by the body is
dependent on frequency and orientation of body in field.
Estimate of RF energy penetration in tissue with high
water content.
Other tissue with
lower water
content will
penetrate deeper.
Microwave range
confined to skin.