Lale T.

Ergene
Fields and Waves
Lesson 5.5
Wave Reflection and Transmission

Normal incident

wave is normally incident on an infinite interface separating
two different media
impedance discontinuity
similar to the transmission lines
EM waves represented with rays or wavefronts

E
incident plane wave
transmitted plane wave
reflected plane wave
MEDIUM 1
1

MEDIUM 2
2


Lossless media

two lossless, homogenous, dielectric media

E
z=0
~
( )

E z a E e
i
x
i jk z
=

0
1
Incident wave
~
( )
~
( )
H z a
E z
a
E
e
i
z
i
y
i
jk z
= =

q q
1
0
1
1
q

c
1
1
1
=
k
1 1 1
=e c
.
.
.
MEDIUM 1
1
,
1

MEDIUM 2
2
,
2

E
i

H
i
a
i

E
r

H
r
a
r

E
t

H
t
a
t
.
.
x
z
y
Lossless media
~
( )

E z a E e
t
x
t jk z
=

0
2
~
( ) ( )
~
( )
H z a
E z
a
E
e
t
z
r
y
r
jk z
= =
q q
1
0
1
1
q

c
2
2
2
=
k
2 2 2
=e c
transmitted wave
reflected wave
~
( )

E z a E e
r
x
r jk z
=
0
1
~
( )
~
( )
H z a
E z
a
E
e
t
z
t
y
t
jk z
= =

q q
2
0
2
2
q

c
1
1
1
=
k
1 1 1
=e c
Boundary conditions
E E E
i r t
0 0 0
+ =
~
( )
~
( ) E E
1 2
0 0 =
or
Tangential component of the electric field should be continuous
across the boundary
Tangential component of magnetic field should be continuous (no
current source)
At the boundary (z=0):
~
( )
~
( ) H H
1 2
0 0 =
or
E E E
i r t
0
1
0
1
0
2
q q q
+ =
reflection and transmission coefficients
I = =

+
E
E
r
i
0
0
2 1
2 1
q q
q q
Normal incident
t = + 1 I
t
q
q q
= =
+
E
E
t
i
0
0
2
2 1
2
Normal incident
and are real for lossless dielectric media
Normal incident
For nonmagnetic media
I = =

+
E
E
r
i
r r
r r
0
0
1 2
1 2
c c
c c
Standing wave ratio
One to one correspondence between the transmission line
parameters and plane wave parameters
incident and reflected waves create a standing wave pattern
transmission line analogy
( )
~
,
~
, , E H k q
S
E
E
= =
+

~
~
max
min
1
1
1
1
I
I
if
1
=
2
=0 S=1
2= 0 (perfect conductor) =-1 S=

( )
~
,
~
, , V I Z |
0
Smith chart can be used
the max and min locations of the electric field intensity from
the boundary are defined by the same expressions for the
voltage max and min locations
Power flow in lossless media
The average power density flowing in medium 1
S S S
av av
i
av
r
1
= +
S a
E
av
i
z
i
=

0
2
1
2q
S a
E
S
av
r
z
i
av
i
= =

I I
2
0
2
1
2
2q
The average power density flowing in medium 2
S a
E
av
r
z
i
2
2
0
2
2
2
=

t
q
For lossless media
t
q q
2
2
2
1
1 2
1
=

=
I
S S
av av
Boundary between lossy media

two lossy media

E
z=0
~
( )

( ) E z a E e e
x
i z z
1
0
1 1
= +

I
q

c
c
c
1
1
1
=
o |
1 1 1
= + j
.
.
.
MEDIUM 1
1
,
1
,
1

MEDIUM 2
2
,
2
,
2

E
i

H
i
a
i

E
r

H
r
a
r

E
t

H
t
a
t
.
.
x
z
y
Medium 1
H z a
E
e e
y
i
c
z z
1
0
1
1 1
( )

( ) =

q

I
Boundary between lossy media

~
( )

E z a E e
x
i z
2
0
2
=

t

q

c
c
c
2
2
2
=
o |
2 2 2
= + j
.
Medium 2
H z a
E
e
y
i
c
z
2
0
2
2
( )

=

t
q

and are real for lossless dielectric media
I = =

+
E
E
r
i
c c
c c
0
0
2 1
2 1
q q
q q
t
q
q q
= + =
+
1
2
2
2 1
I
c
c c