EECS 117

Lecture 21: Wave Propagation in Lossy Media and

Poyntings Theorem
Prof. Niknejad

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 1/1

Time-Harmonic Wave Equation
Start by taking the curl of Faradays Eq.

( E) = j B

H = E + jE
( E) = j(E + jE)
In a source free region, E = 0, and thus

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

We thus have Helmholtz equation

2 E 2 E = 0

Where 2 = j( + j) = + j
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 2/1
 Lossy Materials
In addition to conductive losses , materials can also
have dielectric and magnetic losses
A lossy dielectric is characterized by a complex
permittivity = r + ji , where i arises due to the phase
lag between the field and the polarization. Likewise
= r + ji .
Most materials we study are weakly magnetic and thus
r .
For now assume that ,, and are real scalar
quantities
Thus

r
2
= ( )(1 + )
j

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 3/1

Propagation Constant and Loss
Lets compute the real and imaginary part of
1
 2
= j 1 j

Consider (1 jh) = rej , so that
p j/2
y = 1 jh = re

Note that tan = h, and r = 1 + h2 . Finally
s
1
r r
1 + cos 1+ r r+1
cos = = =
2 2 2 2r

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 4/1

Propagation Constant and Loss (cont)
Similarly
r r
1 cos r1
sin = =
2 2 2r
r r
j/2 r+1 r1
y = re = j = a + jb
2 2
Using the above manipulations, we can now break
into real and imaginary components

= j (a + jb) = b + j a = + j
 
r1
=
2

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 5/1

Propagation Constant and Loss (final)
We have now finally shown that
r "r #1/2
 2
= 1+ 1
2

r "r #1/2
 2
= 1+ +1
2

Its easy to show that the imaginary part of can be

lumped into an effective conductivity term
In practice, most materials are either low loss, such that
eff eff
1, or good conductors, such that 1
In these extreme cases, simplified versions of the above
equations are applicable
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 6/1
 Effective Dielectric Constant
We can also lump the conductivity into an effective
dielectric constant

H = E + jE = jeff E

where eff = j/ . In the low loss case, this is a

good way to include the losses
When or become complex, the wave impedance is
no longer real and the electric and magnetic field fall out
of phase. Since H = E/c
q


r r
c = = =p
eff j/ 1 j

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 7/1

Propagation in Low Loss Materials
If 1, then our equations simplify
 
1
= j 1 j
2

To first order, the propagation constant is unchanged by

the losses (eff = + )
r
1
= = eff
2
A more accurate expression can be obtained with a 1st
order expansion of (1 + x)n
 
1 eff 2
 
= 1 +
8
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 8/1
 Propagation in Conductors
As we saw in the previous lecture, this approximation is
valid when 1
j45
p
= + j = j = e
r

==
2
The phase velocity is given by vp = /
r
2
vp =

This is a function of frequency! This is a very dispersive

medium.

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 9/1

 Waves in Conductors
The wavelength is given by

vp
r
= =2
f f

Example: Take = 107 S/m and f = 100 MHz. Using

the above equations

= 104 m

vp = 104 m/s
Note that 0 = 3 m in free-space, and thus the wave is
very much smaller and much slower moving in the
conductor

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 10/1

Energy Storage and Loss in Fields
We have learned that the power density of electric and
magnetic fields is given by
1 1 2
wm = E D = E
2 2
1 1
wm = H B = H 2
2 2
Also, the power loss per unit volume due to Joule
heating in a conductor is given by

ploss = E J
D
Using J = H t , this can be expressed as

E J = E H ( D)
t
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 11/1
 Poynting Vector
We will demonstrate that the Poynting vector E H
plays an important role in the energy of an EM field.

(E H) = H ( E) E ( H)

D
E J = H ( E) (E J) E
t
B D
= H ( )E (E H)
t t
1 |H|2
 
B H 1 H H
H =H = =
t t 2 t 2 t
1 |E|2
 
D E 1 E E
E =E = =
t t 2 t 2 t

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 12/1

 Poyntings Theorem
Collecting terms we have shown that
   
1 2 1
EJ= |H| |E|2 (E H)
t 2 t 2

Applying the Divergence Theorem

Z  
1 1
Z Z
E JdV = |H| + |E|2 dV E HdV
2
V t V 2 2 S

The above equation can be re-stated as

power rate of change a surface

dissipated in = of energy integral over the
volume V (heat) storage in volume of
volume V EH
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 13/1
Interpretation of the Poynting Vector
We now have a physical interpretation of the last term in
the above equation. By the conservation of energy, it
must be equal to the energy flow into or out of the
volume
We may be so bold, then, to interpret the vector
S = E H as the energy flow density of the field
While this seems reasonable, its important to note that
the physical meaning is only attached to the integral of
S and not to discrete points in space

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 14/1

 Current Carrying Wire
0 I
B=
2r

I I

Consider the above wire carrying a uniform current I

From circuit theory we know that the power loss in the
wire is simply I 2 R. This is easily confirmed
1 1
Z Z
PL = E JdV = J JdV = 2 intV I 2 dV
V V A

A 2 2
PL = 2 I = I
A A

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 15/1

Energy Stored around a Wire Section
Lets now apply Poyntings Theorem. Since the current

is dc, we can neglect all time variation t = 0 and thus
the energy storage of the system is fixed in time.
The magnetic field around the wire is simply given by

I
H=
2r
The electric field is proportional to the current density.
At the surface of the wire
1 I
E= J=
z
A

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 16/1

 Power Loss in Wire
E
S
I H I

The Poynting vector at the surface thus points into the

conductor
I I
r I 2
S=EH= z
=
A 2r 2rA
The power flow into the wire is thus given by
Z Z 2
I2
Z
S ds = rddz = I 2 R
s 0 0 2rA

This result confirms that the energy flowing into the wire
from the field is heating up the wire.
University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 17/1
 Sources and Fields
This result is surprising because it hints that the signal
in a wire is carried by the fields, and not by the charges.
In other words, if a signal propagates down a wire, the
information is carried by the fields, and the current flow
is impressed upon the conductor from the fields.
We know that the sources of EM fields are charges and
currents. But we also know that if the configuration of
charges changes, the fields carry this information

University of California, Berkeley EECS 117 Lecture 21 p. 18/1