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Wave Guides
Wave Guides
Waveguide
Ideal Waveguide
(PEC tube, perfect insulator inside)
Waves propagate along the
waveguide (+z-direction) within the
waveguide through the lossless
dielectric. The electric and magnetic
fields of the guided waves must satisfy
C
C
Assumptions:
(1) the waveguide is infinitely long, oriented along the z-axis,
and uniform along its length.
(2) the waveguide is constructed from ideal materials (enclosing
PEC conductor is filled with a perfect insulator).
(3) fields are time-harmonic.
The electric and magnetic fields associated with the waves propagating
inside the waveguide must satisfy the source free Maxwells equations
given by
These equations can be manipulated into wave equations for the electric
and magnetic fields as was shown in the case of unguided waves. These
wave equations are
The vectors es (x,y) and hs (x,y) in the waveguide field expressions may
contain both transverse field components (ax, ay ) and longitudinal field
components (az ). By expanding the curl operator of Maxwells equations
in rectangular coordinates, and noting that the derivatives of the transverse
components with respect to z can be evaluated as
If we equate the vector components on each side of the two Maxwell curl
equations, we find
Equations (1) and (2) are valid for any wave (guided or unguided)
propagating in the z-direction in a source-free region with a propagation
constant of (. We may use Equations (1) and (2) to solve for the
longitudinal field components in terms of the transverse field components.
The equations for the transverse fields in terms of the longitudinal fields
describe the different types of possible modes for guided and unguided
waves.
Transverse electromagnetic
(TEM) modes
Ezs = Hzs = 0
plane waves,
transmission lines
Ezs 0, Hzs = 0
waveguide modes
Ezs = 0, Hzs 0
waveguide modes
Ezs 0, Hzs 0
waveguide modes
For TEM modes, the only way for the transverse fields to be non-zero with
Ezs = Hzs = 0 is for h = 0, which yields
For the waveguide modes, h cannot be zero since this would yield
unbounded results for the transverse fields. Thus, $ k and the waveguide
propagation constant can be written as
The ratio of h/k can be written in terms of the cutoff frequency fc for the
given waveguide mode.
e !( z = e !" z
TE Modes (Ezs = 0)
TM Modes (Hzs = 0)
Rectangular Waveguide
gives
The resulting product of the constants A and C into combined into one
constant (Eo).
where
Note that the case of n = m = 0 is not allowed since this would make all of
the transverse field components zero. The resulting product of the
constants B and D into combined into one constant (Ho) so that the
longitudinal magnetic field of the TEmn mode is
The equation for the waveguide propagation constant (mn can be used to
determine the cutoff frequency for the respective waveguide mode. The
propagation characteristics of the wave are defined by the relative sizes of
The propagation constant for either the TEmn or TMmn waveguide modes is
defined as
cutoff frequency
If hmn > k
evanescent modes
If hmn < k
propagating modes
TEM waves
Example
Given a pair of degenerate modes (TEnm and TMmn) in an air-filled
rectangular waveguide with a cutoff frequency of 15 GHz, plot the
following parameters as a function of frequency: phase velocity and group
velocity, TE wave impedance and TM wave impedance, TEM wavelength
and mode wavelength, TEM phase constant and mode phase constant.
2.5
u/u
up
1.5
1
ug
0.5
10
20
30
f (GHz)
40
50
60
30
f (GHz)
40
50
60
2.5
TE
1.5
TM
0.5
10
20
5
4.5
4
3.5
(cm)
3
2.5
mn
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
10
20
30
f (GHz)
40
50
60
30
f (GHz)
40
50
60
12
10
-1
(m )
mn
2
10
20
Cavity Resonators
The resonant frequency associated with the TEmnp or TMmnp mode is found
from the separation equation to be
The lowest order modes in a rectangular cavity are the TM110, TE101,
and TE011 modes. Which of these modes is the dominant mode depends on
the relative dimensions of the resonator. The quality factor (Q) of a
waveguide resonator is defined the same way as that for an RLC network.
where the energy lost per cycle is that energy dissipated in the form of heat
in the cavity walls (ohmic losses). The resonator quality factor is inversely
proportional to its bandwidth. Given a resonator made from a conductor
such as copper or aluminum, the ohmic losses are very small and the
quality factor is large (high Q, small bandwidth). Thus, resonators are
used in applications such as oscillators, filters, and tuned amplifiers.
Comparing the modes of the rectangular resonator with the propagating
modes in the rectangular waveguide, we see that the waveguide modes
exist over a wide band (the rectangular waveguide acts like a high-pass
filter) while the rectangular resonator modes exist over a very narrow band
(the rectangular resonator acts like a band-pass filter).
Circular Waveguide
The same techniques used to analyze the rectangular waveguide may
be used to determine the modes that propagate within a circular waveguide.
The separations of variables technique yields solutions for the propagating
modes in terms of Bessel
functions. One unique feature of
the circular waveguide is that
some of the higher order modes
have particularly low loss.
Therefore, this waveguide is
commonly used when signals are
sent over relatively long distances
(microwave antennas on tall
towers).
Optical Fibers
An optical fiber is a dielectric waveguide (lightguide) with a very
high bandwidth and very low loss. The mechanism of wave propagation
on an optical fiber is very different than that of a metal waveguide. The
optical fiber confines the propagating wave inside the fiber by utilizing
reflection of the light waves from a dielectric interface formed by the core
(inner dielectric) and the cladding (outer dielectric).
Visible light
10 to 50 :m
125 :m
Plastic fibers
Core diameter
Cladding diameter
~1000 :m
2000 to 3000 :m
f ~ 1014 Hz