ELE 3302

ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD THEORY II

Part B: Lecture 04
Waveguides
WAVEGUIDE: INTRODUCTION
• A waveguide is a hollow conductor that is used to transmit
electromagnetic signals at microwave frequencies where
conventional transmission lines fail to operate efficiently
because of their high transmission losses.
• Waveguides may have different geometries depending on
their applications.
• Rectangular, circular and ridged waveguides are the ones
that are commonly used.
• We will concentrate on rectangular waveguides because
they are relatively easy to analyze.
3
Introduction
WAVEGUIDE: (Cont’d..)
INTRODUCTION
The most common waveguide types:
Introduction
WAVEGUIDE: INTRODUCTION

WAVEGUIDE  any structure that supports propagation

of a wave. In general usage:

 The term waveguide refers to constructs that only

support non TEM mode propagation, name in the TE and
TM Mode.

It also unable to support wave propagation below a

certain frequency, or cutoff frequency
WAVEGUIDE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction (Cont’d..)

A waveguide is another means of guiding the EM energy

from one point to another (same as transmission line).
Some differences between waveguide and transmission line
(TLine) :

• TLine can only support TEM wave whereas waveguide can

support many possible field configurations.
WAVEGUIDE: INTRODUCTION

• At microwave frequencies (3 to 300 GHz), TLine

becomes inefficient due to skin effect and dielectric
losses, but waveguides are used at microwave
frequencies to obtain larger bandwidth and lower signal
attenuation.

• TLine can operate above dc (f =0) to a very high

frequency, but waveguide can operate only above cutoff
frequency and therefore acts as a high pass filter.
WAVEGUIDE FIELD
Introduction EQUATIONS
(Cont’d..)

• We will now generalize our discussion of transmission lines

by considering EM waveguides.

•We will assume that the waveguide is invariant in the z-

direction and that the wave is propagating in z as ( we
could also have assumed propagation in –z)
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)

Types of EM Waves

• We will first develop an extremely interesting property

of EM waves that propagate in homogenous waveguides.
This will lead to the concept of “modes” and their
classification as:
• Transverse Electric and Magnetic (TEM)

• Transverse Electric (TE), or

• Transverse Magnetic (TM).

WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)
• Proceeding from the Maxwell curl equations:
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)
However, the spatial variation in z is known so that

Consequently, these curl equations simplify to

…………….. (1)

…………….. (2)

…………….. (3)

5
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)
We can perform a similar expansion of Ampere’s equation

( ) to obtain

…………….. (4)

…………….. (5)

…………….. (6)

5
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)
Now, (1) – (6) can be manipulated to produce simple algebraic
equations for the transverse (x and y) components of E and
H. For example, from (1):

Substituting for Ey from (5) we find:

5
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)
After factorizing and simplifying we have:

…………….. (7)

Where:

And:

5
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)
Similarly, we can show that:

…………….. (8)

…………….. (9)

…………….. (10)

5
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D…)
• Most important point: From (7) – (10), we can see that
all transverse components of E and H can be
determined from only the axial components Ez and Hz.
It is this fact that allows the mode designations TEM,
TE and TM.

• Furthermore, we can use superposition to reduce the

complexity of the solution by considering each of
these mode types separately, then adding the fields
together at the end.
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D..)

So, these four important equations will be used to find

the transverse components for TM and TE mode, where:

• for TM mode, Hz=0, then use these four equations to

find the transverse components.

• for TE mode, Ez=0, then use these four equations to

find the transverse components.
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D..)
• for TM mode, Hz=0, equation (7) to (10) can be reduced to:

1  E zs 
(11)
1  E zs  (12)
E ys      E xs     
k c2  y  k c2  x 

1  E zs  (13) 1  E zs 
H xs   j  H ys    j  (14)
2
kc  y  k c 
2 x 
WAVEGUIDE FIELD EQUATIONS
(CONT’D..)
• for TE mode, Ez=0, equation (7) to (10) can be reduced to:

1  H zs  1  H zs  (16)
E ys   j  (15) E xs    j 
k c2  x  kc2  y 

1  H zs  (17) 1  H zs  (18)
H xs    H ys    
kc 
2 x  k c2  y 
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE:
FUNDAMENTALS
A cross section of rectangular waveguide is shown
below:
• Propagation is in the +z direction
or out of page.
• Conducting walls  brass, copper
or aluminium.
• Chosen to be thick enough for
mechanical rigidity and several skin
depths over the frequency of
interest.
• The inside wall  electroplated
with silver or gold to improve
performance
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE
FUNDAMENTALS (CONT’D..)
The interior dimensions are a x b, where the longer side is a.
‘a’ dimension:
 Determines the frequency range of the dominant, or lowest
order, the mode of propagation.
 Usually operates in lowest propagating mode, since higher
order  higher attenuation + difficult to extract from guide.
‘b’ dimension:
 Affects attenuation, smaller b has higher attenuation.
 Also sets the max power capacity
 Usually half of the ‘a’ dimension
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE
FUNDAMENTALS (CONT’D..)

Waveguide can support TE and TM modes, where:

 In TE Modes, the electric field is transverse to the

direction of propagation. Some magnetic field component
in the direction of propagation.

 In TM Modes, the magnetic field is transverse and an

electric field component must be in the propagation
direction.

9
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE
FUNDAMENTALS (CONT’D..)
The order of the mode refers to the field configuration
in the guide and is given by ‘m’ and ‘n’ integer subscripts,
as TEmn and TMmn.

The ‘m’ subscript corresponds to the number of half

wave variations of the field in x direction

The ‘n’ subscript corresponds to the number of half

wave variations of the field in y direction
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE
FUNDAMENTALS (CONT’D..)
In conjunction with the guide dimensions, m and n
determine the cutoff frequency for a particular
mode. It is given by:
2 2
1 m n …………….. (19)
fcmn     
2   a  b
For conventional rectangular waveguide filled with air,
where a = 2b, the dominant or lowest order mode is
TE10 with cutoff frequency fc10 = c/2a
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE
FUNDAMENTALS (CONT’D..)
The relative cutoff frequencies for the first 12 modes of
conventional rectangular waveguide filled with air,

Location of modes
relative to the
dominant TE10 mode in
standard rectangular
waveguide where a=2b.
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE
FUNDAMENTALS (CONT’D..)
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
TE Modes
A transverse electric (TE) wave has Ez = 0 and Hz != 0.
Consequently, all E components are transverse to the
direction of propagation.
For a rectangular waveguide, the solution for Ex, Ey, Hx, Hy
and Hz can be obtained. The solution and the solution
process are interesting, but not needed in this course.

The solution for the wave

number is found to be: ….. (20)

Therefore ….. (21)

RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)
 The m and n indices indicate that only non-zero discrete
solutions for the transverse wavenumber (kc) are allowed.
 If m= n = 0 then Kc,00 = 0 and this implies infinite field
amplitudes which is not physical result and hence the m =
n = 0 TE (or TM) modes are not allowed.
 Also for TEM mode, Ez = Hz = 0 so if m = n = 0 this
implies that E = H = 0. this means there is no TEM mode in
these hollow metallic waveguides.
 Consequently EM waves will propagate in hollow metallic
waveguides only when the frequency is “large enough”
since the TEM mode cannot exist.
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)
 This turns out to be a general result, i.e. for a hollow
conductor waveguide, EM waves will propagate only when
the frequency is large enough and exceeds some lower
threshold.
 This minimum frequency for wave propagation is called the
cutoff frequency fc,mn.
Using Then from (20) and (21) we have:

….. (22)
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)
The cutoff frequencies for TE modes in a rectangular
waveguide are determined from (13) with to be:

….. (23)

In other words, these are the frequencies where and

wave propagation begins when the frequency slightly
exceed fc,mn.
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)
For an X-band rectangular waveguide, the cross-sectional
dimensions are a = 2.286cm and b = 1.016cm. Using (23)

In the X-band region (8.2 – 12.5 GHz), only the TE10 mode
can propagate in the waveguide regardless of how it is
excited. This is called single mode operation and is most
often the preferred application for hollow waveguides.
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)

 On the other hand, at 15.5 GHz any combination of the

first three of these modes could exist and propagate
inside a metal rectangular waveguide.
 Which combination actually exists will depend on how the
waveguide is excited.
 Note that TE11 mode ( and all higher-ordered TE modes)
could not propagate.
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)
TM Modes
Conversely to TE modes, transverse magnetic (TM) modes
have Hz = 0 and Ez !=0.
The expression for the cutoff frequencies of TM modes in a
rectangular waveguide is:

….. (24)

(24) And (23) are very similar

RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)
For an X-band waveguide, the table of cutoff frequencies is
obtained from (24) as:

Therefore, no TM modes can propagate in an X-band

rectangular waveguide when f < 16.156 GHz.
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D)
TEM Mode
 The transverse electric and magnetic (TEM) modes are
characterized by Ez = 0 and Hz = 0.
 In order for this to occur, fc = 0 meaning there is no cutoff
frequency for waveguides that support TEM waves
 Rectangular, circular, elliptical – actually any shaped hollow,
metallic waveguides – cannot support TEM waves.
 Therefore it can be shown that at least two separate
conductors are required for TEM waves. Examples of
waveguides that will allow TEM modes include coaxial cable,
parallel plate waveguide, stripline and microstrip.
 RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D..)

Useful relations to be remember,

2 2
m   n 
Wave number, k c2  k x2  k y2     
 a   b 

The propagation constant is:

2 2
 m   n  where k   
     k
2
 a   b 
 RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D..)

Where we have 3 possibilities depending on k (or ω), m and n:

• Cutoff mode : 2 2
 m   n 
k 2   2      
 a   b 
  0 or     0
At this time, ω is called cutoff angular frequency:

2 2
1  m   n  
c     
  a   b 
 RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D..)

• Evanescent mode :
2 2
 m   n 
k 2   2      
 a   b 
   or   0
We have no propagation at all. These non propagating or
attenuating modes are said to be evanescent.
• Propagating mode :
2 2
 m   n 
k     
2 2
  
 a   b 
  j or   0
 RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D..)

Where the phase constant becomes:

2 2
2  m   n 
  k    
 a   b 

2 2
kc 1  m   n 
fcmn      
2  2   a   b 

The cutoff frequency is the operating frequency below

which attenuation occurs and above which propagation
takes place.
 RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE MODES
(CONT’D..)
2
The cutoff wavelength, c 
2 2
m n
   
 a  a
The phase constant,
2
 fc 
    1   
 f 

The intrinsic wave impedance,

2
 fc  Where,  '   Intrinsic impedance
TM   ' 1    in the medium
 f  