EECS 117

Lecture 20: Plane Waves

Prof. Niknejad
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 1/23
Maxwells Eq. in Source Free Regions
In a source free region = 0 and J = 0
D = 0
B = 0
E =
B
t
=
H
t
H =
D
t
=
E
t
Assume that E and H are uniform in the x-y plane so

x
= 0 and

y
= 0
For this case the E simplies
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 2/23
Curl E for Plane Uniform Fields
Writing out the curl of E in rectangular coordinates
E =
_
_
_
x y z
0 0

z
E
x
E
y
E
z
_
_
_
(E)
x
=
E
y
z
=
H
x
dt
(E)
y
=
E
x
z
=
H
y
dt
(E)
z
= 0 =
H
z
dt
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 3/23
Curl of H for Plane Uniform Fields
Similarly, writing out the curl H in rectangular
coordinates
H =
E
t

H
y
z
=
E
x
t
H
x
z
=
E
y
t
0 =
E
z
t
Time variation in the z direction is zero. Thus the elds
are entirely transverse to the direction of propagation.
We call such elds TEM waves
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 4/23
Polarized TEM Fields
For simplicity assume E
y
= 0. We say the eld polarized
in the x-direction. This implies that H
x
= 0 and H
y
= 0
E
x
z
=
H
y
t

H
y
z
=
E
x
t

2
E
x
z
2
=

2
H
y
zt

2
H
y
zt
=

2
E
x
t
2
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 5/23
One Dimensional Wave Eq.
We nally have it, a one-dimensional wave equation

2
E
x
z
2
=

2
E
x
t
2
Notice similarity between this equation and the wave
equation we derived for voltages and currents along a
transmission line
As before, the wave velocity is v =
1

The general solution to this equation is

E
x
(z, t) = f
1
(t
z
v
) + f
2
(t +
z
v
)
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 6/23
Wave Solution
Lets review why this is the general solution
E
x
t
= f

1
+ f

2
E
x
t
2
= f

1
+ f

2
E
x
z
=
1
v
f

1
+
1
v
f

2
E
x
z
2
=
1
v
2
f

1
+
1
v
2
f

2
A point on the wavefront is dened by (t z/v) = c
where c is a constant. The velocity of this point is
therefore v
1
1
v
z
t
= 0
z
t
= v
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 7/23
Wave Velocity
We have thus shown that the velocity of this wave
moves is
v = c =
1

In free-space, c 3 10
8
m/s, the measured speed of
light
In a medium with relative permittivity
r
and relative
permeability
r
, the speed moves with effective velocity
v =
c

r
This fact alone convinced Maxwell that light is an EM
wave
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 8/23
Sinusoidal Plane Waves
For time-harmonic elds, the equations simplify
dE
x
dz
= jH
y
dH
y
dz
= jE
x
This gives a one-dimensional Helmholtz equation
d
2
E
x
d
2
z
=
2
E
x
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 9/23
Solution of Helmholtz Eq.
The solution is now a simple exponential
E
x
= C
1
e
jkz
+ C
2
e
jkz
The wave number is given by k =

=

v
We can recover a traveling wave solution
E
x
(z, t) =
_
E
x
e
jt
_
E
x
(z, t) =
_
C
1
e
j(tkz)
+ C
2
e
j(t+kz)
_
E
x
(z, t) = C
1
cos (t kz) + C
2
cos (t + kz)
The wave has spatial variation =
2
k
=
2v

=
v
f
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 10/23
Magnetic Field of Plane Wave
We have the following relation
H
y
=
1
j
dE
x
dz
=
1
j
_
jkC
1
e
jkz
+ C
2
jke
jkz
_
H
y
=
k

_
C
1
e
jkz
C
2
jke
jkz
_
By denition, k =

H
y
=
_

_
C
1
e
jkz
C
2
e
jkz
_
The ratio E
+
x
and H
+
y
has units of impedance and is
given by the constant =
_
/. is known as the
impedance of free space
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 11/23
Plane Waves
Plane waves are the simplest wave solution of
Maxwells Eq. They seem to be a gross
oversimplication but they nicely approximate real
waves that are distant from their source
source of radiation
wavefront at distant points
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 12/23
Wave Equation in 3D
We can derive the wave equation directly in a
coordinate free manner using vector analysis
E =
H
t
=
(H)
t
Substitution from Maxwells eq.
H =
D
t
=
E
t
E =

2
E
t
2
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 13/23
Wave Eq. in 3D (cont)
Using the identity E =
2
E +( E)
Since E = 0 in charge free regions

2
E =

2
E
t
2
In Phasor form we have k
2
=
2

2
E = k
2
E
Now its trivial to get a 1-D version of this equation

2
E
x
=

2
E
x
t
2

2
E
x
x
2
=

2
E
x
t
2
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 14/23
Penetration of Waves into Conductors
Inside a good conductor J = E
In the time-harmonic case, this implies the lack of free
charges
H = J +
E
t
= ( + j) E
Since H 0, we have
( + j) E 0
Which in turn implies that = 0
For a good conductor the conductive currents
completely outweighs the displacement current, e.g.

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 15/23
Conductive vs. Displacement Current
To see this, consider a good conductor with 10
7
S/m
up to very high mm-wave frequencies f 100GHz
The displacement current is still only
10
11
10
11
1
This is seven orders of magnitude smaller than the
conductive current
For all practical purposes, therefore, we drop the
displacement current in the volume of good conductors
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 16/23
Wave Equation inside Conductors
Inside of good conductors, therefore, we have
H = E
E = ( E)
2
E =
2
E = jH

2
E = jE
One can immediately conclude that J satises the same
equation

2
J = jJ
Applying the same logic to H, we have
H = ( H)
2
H =
2
H = (j+)E

2
H = jH
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 17/23
Plane Waves in Conductors
Lets solve the 1D Helmholtz equation once again for
the conductor
d
2
E
z
d
2
x
= jE
z
=
2
E
z
We dene
2
= j so that
=
1 + j

Or more simply, = (1 + j)

f =
1+j

The quantity =
1

f
has units of meters and is an
important number
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 18/23
Solution for Fields
The general solution for the plane wave is given by
E
z
= C
1
e
x
+ C
2
e
x
Since E
z
must remain bounded, C
2
0
E
z
= E
0
e
x
= E
x
e
x/
. .
mag
e
jx/
. .
phase
Similarly the solution for the magnetic eld and current
follow the same form
H
y
= H
0
e
x/
e
jx/
J
z
= J
0
e
x/
e
jx/
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 19/23
Penetration Depth
The wave decays exponentially into the conductor. For
this reason, is called the penetration depth, or more
commonly, the skin depth. The elds drop to 1/e of their
values after traveling one skin depth into the conductor.
After several skin depths, the elds are essentially zero
You may also say that the wave exists only on the skin
of the conductor
For a good conductor at f = 1GHz
=
1

f
10
6
m
As the frequency is increased, 0, or the elds
completely vanish in the volume of the conductor
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 20/23
Total Current in Conductor
Why do elds decay in the volume of conductors?
The induced elds cancel the incoming elds. As
, the elds decay to zero inside the conductor.
The total surface current owing in the conductor
volume is given by
J
sz
=
_

0
J
z
dx =
_

0
J
0
e
(1+j)x/
dx
J
sz
=
J
0

1 + j
At the surface of the conductor, E
z0
=
J
0

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 21/23

Internal Impedance of Conductors
Thus we can dene a surface impedance
Z
s
=
E
z0
J
sz
=
1 + j

Z
s
= R
s
+ jL
i
The real part of the impedance is a resistance
R
s
=
1

=
_
f

The imaginary part is inductive

L
i
= R
s
So the phase of this impedance is always /4
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 22/23
Interpretation of Surface Impedance
The resistance term is equivalent to the resistance of a
conductor of thickness
The inductance of the surface impedance represents
the internal inductance for a large plane conductor
Note that as , L
i
0. The elds disappear from
the volume of the conductor and the internal impedance
is zero
We commonly apply this surface impedance to
conductors of nite width or even coaxial lines. Its
usually a pretty good approximation to make as long as
the conductor width and thickness is much larger than
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 20 p. 23/23