Electromagnetic Spectrum

 Electromagnetic Spectrum= Radio Spectrum + optical spectrum.

 The science generally classify EM waves into 7 basic types.
 The most dangerous frequency of electromagnetic waves are gamma rays, x-rays, ultra
violet light, they can damage living cells and microwaves can cook them.

Name Frequency Wavelengt About Applications Spectrum

h the
Size of
Electric Non
Waves ionizing
Radio 104 -108 1m and up Buildin Instant communication, Radio
Waves gs, Am and FM radio, TV spectrum,
(1kHz- Human Non
100MHz) s ionizing
Micro 108 -1012 1m to 1mm butterfl Data and heat, microwave Radio
Waves (100MHz- (1 to 10-3 m) ies oven, Radar. spectrum,
100GHz) Non
ionizing
Infrared 1012 -1015 1mm - Grains Heating property, Optical
(100GHz- 700nm (10-3 of Invisible heat, radiant spectrum,
100THz) to 10-6 m) sugar, heat, TV remote, medical Non
needle applications, ionizing
point Phototherapy
Visible 1016 (1000 740-380nm Protozo Light bulb, Visible light Optical
THz), Visible (8*10-7 to ans, communication, spectrum,
frequency 4*10-7m) bacteria optoelectronics Non
band 430 ionizing
(red)-770THz
(violet), 740-
380 nm
Wavelength)
Ultraviol 1016 -1018 380nm- molecul Sun, Energetic light, arc Optical
et 10nm (3*10- es welding, Virus bacteria spectrum,
7 to 10-8m) disinfection, hygiene, Non
fluorescent inspection, ionizing
tanning, water and
purification, detecting ionizing
forged bank notes in
shops, photolithography
X-Ray 1018 -1020 10nm- atoms Penetrating radiation, Optical
0.01nm (10- medical x-rays. spectrum,
8 to 10-12m) ionizing
Gamma 1020 -1022 0.01nm (10- Atomic Nuclear energy, Optical
Ray 12 m to up) Nuclei radioactive source or spectrum,
<10pm elements, Medical ionizing
diagnosis, Radiotherapy,
sterilization and
disinfection in industry,
nuclear industry
Cosmic 1022 and 1024 Optical
Ray spectrum,
ionizing
Units

Term Symbol Power

yocto y 10-24
zepto z 10-21
atto a 10-18
femto f 10-15
pico p 10-12
Angstrom A 10-10
nano n 10-9
micro µ 10-6
milli m 10-3
centi c 10-2
deci d 10-1
deka da 101
hecta h 102
kilo k 103
mega M 106
giga G 109
Tera T 1012
Peta P 1015
Exa E 1018
Zetta Z 1021
Yotta Y 1024

The Radio Spectrum (Radio Waves)

 Radio spectrum is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies from 1 Hz
to 3000 GHz
 EM waves in this frequency range are called radio waves.

Name Frequency Wavelength Existing services Emergi

ng
Servic
es
ELF 3-30 Hz 100000 km -
(Extremely) 10000 km
SLF (Super) 30-300 Hz 10000 km -
1000 km (107
to 106m)
ULF (Ultra) 300Hz- 1000 km -
or voice 3KHz 100 km (106
frequency to 105m)
VLF (Very) 3-30 KHz 100 km-10 Maritime radio, navigation
Km (105 to
104m)
LF 30-300 KHz 10 km to 1 Long wave radio (AM), because the
Km (104 to wavelength is longer than medium
103m) wave, eg. BBC radio 4 long wave
frequency is 198 KHz. Maritime radio,
navigation.
MF 300 KHz-3 1 Km to 100 Medium wave radio (AM), 500- DRM
MHz m (103 to 1600KHz and 550-185 m wavelength Digital
102m) radio
HF 3-30 MHz 100 m to 10 Short wave international broadcasting DRM
m (102 to (AM), wavelength between 10-100 m, Digital
10m) Diathermy, military over-the-horizon radio
radar, Amateur radio, Oceanic air
traffic control, Coastal radar systems
VHF 30-300 10 m to 1 m FM radio, VHF television, Digital audio DRM
MHz broadcasting, two-way land mobile Digital
radio systems like military, marine radio
communication, air traffic control, air
navigation systems, Applied
retrospectively to earlier radar
systems
UHF (Ultra) 300 MHz-3 1 m to 10 cm digital radio, digital TV , GPS, 4 G, UHF Mobile,
GHz (1 to 10-1m) television, GSM phones, 3G and 2G TV,
(microwav mobile phones, PMSE, Wi Fi, Tetra – local
e freq) terrestrial trunked radio, LTE, TV,
Bluetooth, Walkie Talkie, Cordless HDTV,
phones, Very long range ( ballistic WiMax
missile early warning), ground
penetrating radar, foliage penetrating.
UHF band+ a part of VHF band near
UHF range is called SweetSpot.
Because this band is used for many
applications
SHF 3-30 GHz 10 cm to 1 cm Microwave radio links, satellite links,
(Super) (microwav (10-1 to 10- Wi-Fi.
e freq) 2m)

EHF 30-300 GHz 1 cm to 1 mm Microwave radio links, satellite links,

(Extremely) (mm (10-2 to 10- radio astronomy.
waves) 3m)

Millimetre 40-300 GHz 7.5 -1 mm Radio astronomy, remote sensing,

wave automotive radars, military
applications, security screening and
telecommunication
Deci 300-3000 1-0.1 mm
millimetre GHz
(sub
millimetre
wave)

 Light wave 4300-7500 GHz

 AM- modulating signal (information signal) frequency is up to 5 KHz but carrier signal
(the signal which it is being carried, modulating signal super imposed to carrier signal)
frequency is 530-1620 KHz. Intermediate (IF) frequency is 455 KHz
 FM- Modulating signal BW is 15 KHz and the carrier frequency 88-108 MHz, IF frequency
is 10.7 MHz
 Medium Waves (MW) use λ/4 dipole antennas
Microwave Frequency Bands
 Microwave spectrum is usually defined as a range of frequencies ranging from 1 GHz to
over 100 GHz.
 The λ values of milimeter waves are the millimetre range.
 The λ values of microwaves are centimetre range so microwaves are centimetre waves.
 The prefix Micro means microwaves are small compared to the waves used in radio
broadcasting, in that they have shorter wavelengths.

Name f wavelength Applications

(λ)
P 0.23-1 130-30 cm
GHz
L 1 -2 GHz 15 cm to 30 cm Radar, mobile and satellite communications, GNSS
(Global Navigation Satellite System) Technologies
including satellite navigation links like GPS, Galileo,
GLONASS, BeiDou etc. and satellite broadcasting
applications, Distance measurement equipment,
Aircraft ATC, Radar Transponders, Long range air
traffic control and surveillance. GPS has five bands L1
1575.42 MHz, L2-1227.60 MHz, L3-1381.05 MHz, and
L5-1176.45 MHz. 1240 -1300 MHz band used for
amateur radio applications and 1260- 1270 MHz for
amateur satellite uplink.
Less interference from heavy rain fading.
S 2 -4 GHz 7.5 cm to 15 Mobile communications, mobile satellite
cm communications and weather/ship radar systems, the
2.4 GHz is used for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee etc.
Broadcast satellite radio services, Wireless local
area network 802.11b &g, Bluetooth personal area
network, ATC Surveillance radar, Satellite television
broadcast, Terminal air traffic control, marine radar,
long range weather radar.
C 4 -8 GHz 3.75 cm to 7.5 Satellite communications, weather radars, the 802.11a
cm version of Wi-Fi devices, Radio LAN in the 5 GHz range
(802.11a), Aircraft radar altimeters, weather radar,
Point to point telecom infrastructure, Satellite
transponder, weather radar.
The c band is preferred over the Ku band for satellite
communications as it is less susceptible to rain fade
than Ku band.
X 8 -12 GHz 2.5 cm to 3.75 Satellite and terrestrial applications, Radar
cm applications including weather monitoring, air traffic
control, defence tracking, vehicle speed detection,
radar, maritime radar, police radar speed
measurement, radar motion detectors (doors and
alarms) Point to point telecom infrastructure,
weather, , Missile guidance, marine radar, medium
resolution mapping, ground surveillance.
(Named x as the frequency range is kept secret during
world war II). Low rates of atmospheric attenuation in
comparison to frequencies above 10 GHz.
Ku 12 -18 1.67 cm to 2.5 Satellite TV, fixed satellite service (FSS) 11.7 to 12.7
GHz cm GHz, dish antenna size is from 1 m to 1.7 m), Direct
 broadcast satellite 12.2 to 12.7 GHz and VSAT systems
on ships. Point to point telecom infrastructure, police
radar speed measurement, High resolution mapping,
satellite altimetry, Direct broadcast satellite.
Signal attenuation due to rain drops.
K 18 -26.5 1.13 cm to Satellite communications, astronomical observations
GHz 1.67 cm and radars, Point to point telecom infrastructure,
police radar speed measurement, Fixed satellite
service space to earth all regions, inter satellite radio
location, Inter satellite frequency and time standard
reference, Used by metrologist for detecting clouds,
automotive radar uses 24-26 GHz.
The peak resonant frequency of water vapour is 22.24
GHz which lies within the k band making it unusable
for long range transmission. Less used band as
22.5GHz absorbed by water vapour in air.
Ka 26.5 -40 5 mm to 11.3 Short range radar, Satellite communications, Fixed
GHz mm satellite serviced - earth to space all regions, police
radar speed measurement, Atmospheric attenuation
windows, point to point data link, Mapping, short
range, airport surveillance, photo radars. The uplink
frequency for satellite communications is usually
around 27.5 GHz or 31 GHz.
One of the main problem with Ka band is the signal
loss due to rain and humidity as water vapour does
resonate at this frequency.
Q 30 - 50 6.5 mm to 9 Automotive Radar, satellite communications, radio
GHz mm astronomy studies and terrestrial microwave
communications
U 40 -60 5 mm to 7.5
GHz mm
V 50 -75 4 mm to 6 mm Wireless backhaul, millimetre wave communication
GHz (60 (57-66 GHz) and point to point /point to multi point
GHz band radio links, Military communication below 50GHz,
or WiGig FMCW Short range radar.
band) One issue of V band is the high absorption of signals
due to oxygen at this frequency. Because the V band
usually has a range of around 2 Km.
E 60 -90 3.3 mm to 5
GHz (60 mm
GHz band)
W 75 -110 2.7 mm to 4 Automotive Radar (77GHz), satellite communications
GHz mm (71-76 and 81-86 GHz), defence, astronomy and
security applications, 76GHz LRR Automotive radar,
79GHz SRR automotive radar

F 90 -140 2.1 mm to 3.3

GHz mm
D 110 -170 1.8 mm to 2.7
GHz mm
G 110-300 2.7 mm to 1.0
(mm) GHz mm
Visible Spectrum
 The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the
human eye
 Human eye will respond to wavelength from 380 to 740 nanometres
 The reason that the human eye can see the spectrum is because those specific
wavelengths stimulate the retina in the human eye.
 Visible spectrum 7 colours (VIBGYOR)

Colour Frequency Wavelength

Violet 668-789 THz 400 to 440
(Highest energy)
Indigo 600 THz to 700 THz 440 to 460
Blue 606 THz to 668 THz 460 to 500
Green 526 THz to 606 THz 500 to 570
Yellow 508 THz to 526 THz 570 t0 590
Orange 484THz to 508 THz 570 t0 590
Red 400 THz to 484 THz 620 to 720
(Lowest energy)

 For day time colour vision (known as photopic vision) the most visible wavelength is
555nm which comes out to a colour part way between green and yellow.
 For night vision (known as scotopic vision) the most visible wavelength is 505nm, which
most people see as halfway between green and blue-green
Cell phone Bands
1.CDMA band-800 MHz
2.GSM 900 – 890-960 MHz
3.GSM 800- 1710-1818 MHz
4.3G- split into 2 parts, transit and receive part, 1920-1980, 2110-2170 MHz
5.4G- India use 2300-2400 MHz
 Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth, microwave oven- 2.45 GHz
 Amateur radio 10 -10.5 GHz
 God’s frequency is 39.17 MHz the investigation of peter popoff. Religious people have
claimed that they have engaged in direct communications with god
 5 G signals have higher frequency and shorter wavelength. So things like walls can affect
the 5G signals move. 5 G signals have weaker penetrating power than 4 G signals.
 The most restrictive limits on whole body exposure are in the frequency range of 30-
300MHz where the human body absorbs RF energy most efficiently when the whole body
is exposed.
Bandwidth and Frequency
 The basic difference between bandwidth and frequency is that the bandwidth measures
the amount of data transferred per second and the frequency measures the number of
oscillations of the data signal per second.