Tutorial Vol. 32, No.

8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A 1485

Electromagnetic inhomogeneous waves

at planar boundaries: tutorial
FABRIZIO FREZZA AND NICOLA TEDESCHI*
Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, “La Sapienza” University of Rome,
Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, Italy
*Corresponding author: nicola.tedeschi@uniroma1.it

Received 25 March 2015; revised 29 May 2015; accepted 5 June 2015; posted 10 June 2015 (Doc. ID 236794); published 13 July 2015

In this review paper, we summarize the fundamental properties of inhomogeneous waves at the planar interface
between two media. We point out the main differences between the wave types: lateral waves, surface waves, and
leaky waves. We analyze each kind of inhomogeneous wave, giving a quasi-optical description and explaining the
physical origin of some of their properties. © 2015 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (240.0240) Optics at surfaces; (240.6680) Surface plasmons; (260.2110) Electromagnetic optics; (260.6970) Total
internal reflection.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.32.001485

1. INTRODUCTION structures [17] and, recently, in the guided propagation on

The study of inhomogeneous electromagnetic waves at the pla-
nar boundary between two media has been an important topic
since the early twentieth century. The first efforts to understand
the properties of such waves can be ascribed to Sommerfeld and
Zenneck [1,2]. The former was involved in the analysis of ra-
diation from a vertical electric dipole located above the planar
interface between two homogeneous media, and the latter was
about the bounded inhomogeneous plane waves at the interface
between dissipative materials. These studies have been carried
out for the analysis of guided propagation of electromagnetic
waves on stratified structures and the interaction of the electro-
magnetic sources with Earth’s surface [3,4]. Since the early
studies, several kinds of inhomogeneous waves have been rec-
ognized; in particular, three waves were individuated: lateral
waves, first discovered in acoustic applications and experimen-
tally found also for electromagnetic waves [5,6]; surface waves,
bounded waves propagating on the interface [7]; and leaky
waves, due to the leakage of energy from guiding structures
provided with some kind of aperture. Due to their importance
in applications and to their theoretical appeal, these waves have
been widely studied and several physical properties have been
presented in the literature. In the work by Baños [8], radiation
of dipole sources above a planar interface was studied in great
depth. Moreover, several reviews have been published on the
topic. We refer specifically to the works by Zucker [9],
Brown [10], Goubau [11], Schelkunoff [12], Barlow and
Brown [13], and Tamir [14–16].
This topic presents great appeal for researchers in recent
years, too. In particular, surface waves are of great importance
in the analysis of guided propagation in open stratified
artificial surfaces, often called metasurfaces [18]. Moreover,
they are of great importance in the development of nanopho-
tonics because of their capability of going beyond the diffrac-
tion limit [19]. On the other hand, leaky waves are of great
importance in the analysis of the so-called leaky-wave antennas.
These antennas have great capabilities in terms of gain, direc-
tivity, and the possibility of scanning the radiation angle by
changing the working frequency [20]. These antennas are his-
torically typical of the microwave frequency regime. However,
in recent years, efforts have been made to obtain them at optical
frequencies [21,22].
In this paper, we analyze the different fields that can be
excited on a planar interface. When a homogeneous plane wave
impinges on a planar interface between two dielectrics, a re-
flected plane wave and a transmitted plane wave, both homo-
geneous in the lossless case, emerge from the interface in the
two media, respectively. This solution of the problem is well
known and can be interpreted in simple ray-optical terms
involving the concepts of wavefronts, rays, and ray tubes. This
description fails in total-reflection conditions, i.e., when the
first medium is denser than the second one, and the incident
angle is larger than the critical angle [23]. In fact, in this case the
refracted wave is along the interface and it is attenuated in the
second medium. Here, the concept of surface wave is exploited
to indicate a wave propagating along the surface and attenuat-
ing away from it. However, this kind of surface wave is not
a guided solution of the interface: it exists only if a
plane wave, with an infinite wavefront, impinges on it. The
homogeneous plane-wave representation proves very useful in
understanding the physics of many phenomena, but it cannot

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 1486 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
account for all the possible phenomena consistent with
Maxwell’s equations. From experimental observation, many
other kinds of waves strongly connected to a planar interface
have been discovered. They can be classified into the following
three families:
1. A “lateral wave” is also known as a “head wave” or “re-
fraction arrival wave.” Each of these designations describes a
special feature of the wave. The first emphasizes the sideways
propagation of the wave parallel to the interface. The second
one derives from the fact that, under transient conditions, this
wave furnishes the first response in certain regions of the
medium containing the source. The third one focuses on
the important role played by refraction in establishing the wave
[23]. An alternative definition can be the following: the lateral
wave is a field variety that is intimately associated with a wave
undergoing total reflection when incidence occurs from a
denser medium onto the interface with a rarer medium [14].
In other words, the lateral wave is a wave propagating on a pla-
nar interface on the side of the bottom medium, which radiates
in the top medium.
2. A surface wave is one that propagates along an interface
between two different media without radiation. Here, by
“radiation” we mean energy converted from the surface-wave
field to some other forms [13,15].
3. A leaky wave is an inhomogeneous wave propagating
in a lossless material and is generated by a guided structure
because of radiation leakage [16,24].
These definitions, being verbal and not in a mathematical
form, can easily lead to confusion. For example, one can under-
stand that a surface wave propagates along the interface, in the
sense that the real energy flow is parallel to the interface, with-
out radiation in the two media. However, if one considers a
surface wave in the case in which one of the two media has
losses, then the surface wave will be an inhomogeneous wave
in a lossy medium, so its real energy-flow direction is not in the
phase direction anymore [25,26], i.e., a portion of the real
power must radiate into the lossy medium. On the other hand,
a surface wave can be defined in the case of lossy media, too.
Just to give another example, if one considers a dielectric two-
dimensional slab with a line current parallel to the interface
embedded in it, it can be shown, as we will see in the following
sections, that this slab may generate a leaky wave in the air half-
space above it. However, considering only the previous defini-
tions, this wave can be confused with a lateral one. In fact, it
propagates along the interface and radiates in the medium
above it. Furthermore, from the above definition of a lateral
wave, we see that it is not possible to give a direct definition,
but it is defined indirectly by means of its properties.
We want to clarify the definitions of these waves from a
mathematical point of view. These definitions are rigorous
and unambiguous, but unfortunately they hide the physical
characteristics of waves. These characteristics will be investi-
gated in the following sections.
A preliminary step is to define a geometric system. Here, we
are interested in studying electromagnetic waves on a planar
surface. The simplest case is the planar boundary between two
different homogeneous media. However, this surface does not
support all the fields that we are interested in, as we are going to
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see in the following. For this reason, we will consider the more
general case of a half-space z > 0, filled by a medium 1, with
electric relative permittivity ε1, and we consider the surface
z
0 as a general surface that can represent a true boundary
with another homogeneous half-space, or it can represent more
complicated surfaces. If the surface is independent of both the x
and y directions, then it can be represented by an impedance
Z kz . If, for example, we consider the boundary with another
homogeneous medium, this impedance will represent the
Fresnel reflection coefficient. We suppose that the relative
magnetic permeability of all the media involved is equal to
unity. Moreover, we suppose linear, homogeneous, isotropic,
and stationary media. Actually, many interesting phenomena
involving surface waves have been studied in the literature in
the presence of either magnetic, anisotropic, nonlinear, or inho-
mogeneous media [27–30]. However, for the sake of brevity, we
are not going to discuss these phenomena in the present paper.
The second step is to define the nature of the excitation. We
cannot consider simple plane-wave incidence on the interface
because of two reasons. First, this field is not able to excite some
of the phenomena that we are interested in. In order to excite
these waves, we need a richer spectrum. The second reason lies
in the infinite amount of energy of the plane wave that may
hide some phenomena. In order to choose an excitation, we
must establish what kind of problem we want to face: two-
dimensional or three-dimensional? In the first case, the most
suitable source is either an electric or a magnetic line current.
In the second case, we might consider either an electric or a
magnetic elementary dipole. It can be seen that in the two
cases, the excited waves on the interface show similar properties
and differ only for the different wavefronts [31]. To simplify
the mathematical expressions, we will consider the two-
dimensional case, with sources independent of the y direction.
Under the previous hypothesis, the electromagnetic field
can be expressed by a scalar function, V r, representing either
the electric or magnetic field, in the y direction, depending on
the excitation. In particular, we can consider the field in
medium 1 as a superposition of two fields: the field V i that
the source would emit in free space, and the field V int due
to the interaction with the surface. Obviously, the reflected
field, V int , contains both the geometrical-optics reflection, valid
in the ray-optics approximation, and all the other fields sup-
ported by the surface. The field V int can be expanded in plane
waves as follows:
Z
1 ∞
V int x; z
skx e −jkx xkz z dkx ; (1)
2π −∞
where the spectrum sk x  depends on the source characteristics
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
and on the impedance of the surface, and kz
k 21 − k 2x .
Moreover, each plane wave of the spectrum must satisfy the
radiation condition in medium 1, i.e., the imaginary part of
the z component, kz , of the propagation vector must always
be negative. All the fields relevant to the planar surface must
be found inside the spectrum in Eq. (1). If we look at the
plane-wave spectrum as a complex integral, we know that many
different contributions must be taken into account. First of all,
the radiation condition constrains the sign of the imaginary
part of k z . It means that on the complex plane of kx there
is a branch cut that must never be crossed by the integration
 Tutorial Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
path. Moreover, the function skx  presents pole and branch-
point singularities. Lateral, surface, and leaky waves are related
to these singularities. In particular, the lateral wave is a field
with a continuous spectrum and it is not relevant to a pole
singularity, but it is connected to the path around a branch
cut, i.e., to a branch-point singularity [5]. On the other hand,
surface and leaky waves are relevant to pole singularities: the
former to proper pole singularities and the latter to improper
pole singularities [24]. Here, we talk about proper and
improper poles referring to values of kz that satisfy or do not
satisfy the radiation condition, respectively. In this way, we are
connecting the modes of the surface to the singularities of the
spectrum representing the reflected field. The modes of the
surface are related to the dispersion equation of the structure,
i.e., all the modes must be relevant to zeros of the dispersion
equation. A simple and fast way to obtain the dispersion equa-
tion of a structure is the so-called transverse-resonance method
[17,32]. This method yields the dispersion equation of the sur-
face by equating to zero the sum of the surface impedance,
Z k z , and of the characteristic impedance of medium 1,
Z 1 kz , obtaining
Z kz   Z 1 kz 
0: (2)
The zeros of this equation give the discrete spectrum of the
surface, and they correspond to the poles of the function sk x .
To clarify the above definitions, we now present an example
of the trace of the study presented in [33]. We consider the
geometry in Fig. 1, where the half-space z < 0 is occupied
by a dielectric slab, with thickness d and relative permittivity
εd , over a half-space, z < −d filled with a dielectric with relative
permittivity ε2. In medium 1, we assume an electromagnetic
source with an arbitrary distribution of currents, independent
of the direction y. We know the electric field radiated by the
source, and we are interested in determining the reflected field
by the slab represented by the plane-wave spectrum in Eq. (1).
It can be proved [33] that the spectrum relevant to this
structure presents, on the complex plane of k x
k x0 − jk x0 0 ,
two couples of branch points, k 1 and k 2 ; two couples of
poles on the real axis, q and r; and two couples of complex
poles, u and v; see Fig. 2. Each branch point is related to a
branch cut, as shown in Fig. 2. Then there are two couples of
branch cuts: B  
1 , relevant to the branch points k 1 ; and B 2 ,
relevant to the branch points k 2 . It can be seen that the
integral in Eq. (1) is given by the paths around two branch
Fig. 1. Geometry of a slab with thickness d between two half-
spaces.
1487
Fig. 2. Complex plane of the variable k x
k x0 − jk x0 0 of the integral
in Eq. (1), in the case of a line current above a dielectric slab. The black
points represent the branch points of the spectrum, and the crosses
represent the poles. The four dashed lines represent the branch cuts
of the spectrum.
cuts and by the residues due to a couple of poles on the
real axis, and due to a couple of complex poles. All these
contributions are relevant to the fourth quadrant of the kx com-
plex plane because of the radiation condition. The paths
around the branch cuts refer to two different waves: the wave
relevant to the branch point k 1 is the geometrical-optic re-
flected field by the surface, while the wave relevant to the
branch point k2 is the lateral-wave contribution. Similarly, the
residues due to the poles on the real axis are relevant to surface
waves, while the residues due to the complex poles are relevant
to leaky waves.
At this point we have a clear and unambiguous definition of
the waves at the interface: lateral waves are fields with a con-
tinuous spectrum due to a branch-point singularity, relevant to
the medium filling the half-space without sources; surface
waves are fields with a discrete spectrum due to real-pole sin-
gularities; and leaky waves are fields with a discrete spectrum
due to complex-pole singularities.
It is important to note that we considered the structure in
Fig. 1 because it has a rich spectrum with several branch points
and poles. In general, not all the structures present such singu-
larities. For example, if we consider as a structure the simple
boundary between two homogeneous media and as an excita-
tion a single cylindrical wave, then the spectrum will be the
product of two elements: the Fresnel reflection coefficient
Rk x  and the plane-wave spectrum of the cylindrical wave
d x , well known in both the cases of lossless or dissipative
CWk
materials [34,35]. It can be seen that the spectrum in this case
presents only two paths around two branch cuts and only one
real pole singularity in the fourth quadrant [33]. As a conse-
quence, this structure supports only the lateral wave and the
surface wave, while the leaky wave cannot be excited.
 1488 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
2. LATERAL WAVE
Lateral-wave propagation is a classical topic in electromagnetic
research, with studies spanning nearly the entire twentieth
century. Therefore, several reviews specifically addressing the
topic have been published. The reader interested in a wider
look at lateral-wave properties can refer to a rich bibliography
[14,23,33,36]. Early research on lateral waves, which dates
back to the first thirty years of the twentieth century, was car-
ried out in the field of elastic waves. In fact, these waves are
extremely useful in seismic studies and for the investigation
of Earth’s crust. The first interpretations of the phenomena
were mostly of a mathematical nature, recognizing lateral waves
as solutions due to branch-point singularities of the plane-wave
spectrum [4]. The physical interpretation and the experimental
verification of lateral waves in acoustics were addressed during
the 1930s, while an extension of the results to electromagnetic
waves was worked out during the 1940s [33].
Lateral waves occur when a planar-layered medium is con-
sidered, so they must be considered in several applications.
Interest in lateral waves is also because of the connection with
the total internal reflection on the interface between a denser
and a rarer medium. As we clarified in Section 1, to excite a
lateral wave we must consider a rich spectrum. If we consider
a line current above the interface between a denser medium
with permittivity ε1 and a rarer one with permittivity ε2, then
the lateral-wave contribution is due to the integration path
around the branch cut relevant to the branch point k 2 . If we
consider a point P in medium 1, we can recognize several con-
tributions to the total electromagnetic field. As explained in
Section 1, there are the incident field V i , due to the line cur-
rent; the geometrical-optics reflected field V r , due to the path
around the branch cut relevant to the branch point k1 ; the
lateral-wave contribution V L , due to the path around the
branch cut relevant to the branch point k2 ; and the surface-
wave contribution V S , due to a pole singularity [33].
Because of the definition of a surface wave, we suppose that
it is closely confined to the interface, and here we neglect its
contribution. As previously stated, since the lateral wave
presents a continuous spectrum, it cannot, in general, be rep-
resented as a plane wave. However, in the path around the
branch cut due to the branch point k 2 , the contribution of
the branch-point singularity is dominant at a sufficiently large
distance from the source. We can see that this contribution
corresponds to a geometrical-optics ray impinging on the inter-
face exactly at the critical angle of total reflection. In fact, the
branch point corresponds to the following value of the tangen-
tial component of the propagation vector:
k2
k x
k 2 → sin θi
→ θi
θL ; (3)
k1
where we suppose k2 < k1 . Hence, the lateral wave is strongly
connected to the total internal reflection. This connection
allows us to give a quasi-optical interpretation of the lateral
wave, as shown in [14]. Let us consider a plane wave V i in-
cident at the critical angle θL on the interface between a denser
medium 1 and a rarer medium 2, as shown in Fig. 3(a). As is
well known, the transmitted wave V L2 propagates along the
boundary without attenuation and with an infinite wavefront.
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Fig. 3. (a) Sketch of a plane wave V i incident at the angle of total
reflection, with the reflected and transmitted waves. (b) Sketch of a
plane wave traveling along the boundary and transmitted in medium
1 at the angle of total reflection. (c) Quasi-optical representation of a
lateral wave.
At this point, we can consider this transmitted wave and
imagine it as an incident wave from medium 2 to medium
1. In this case, the reciprocity principle ensures that the trans-
mitted wave in medium 1, V L1 , will be a homogeneous plane
wave propagating at an angle θL , as shown in Fig. 3(b). If we
now connect the two situations in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b), we can
see that the wave V i , at angle θL , excites the wave parallel to the
boundary in medium 2, and such a wave is transmitted again in
medium 1 at the same angle, as shown in Fig. 3(c). The waves
V L1 and V L2 together form the lateral wave. In particular, they
are the two portions of the lateral wave, respectively, in medium
1 and medium 2. In this way, we explained the behavior of a
lateral wave in terms of rays. From this approximate, but in-
tuitive, description, we can understand why the lateral wave
cannot be recognized when a plane wave with an infinite wave-
front incident at the angle of total reflection is considered. In
this case, it would be “hidden” by the reflected wave.
The expression of the transverse field to the plane of
incidence of a lateral wave excited by a line current has been
obtained in the literature and can be written as follows (here V L
represents the electric field in the case of an electric line current
and the magnetic field in the case of a magnetic line current,
perpendicular to the plane of incidence) [37,38]:
−2jmε2 expf−jk1 L1  L2   k2 Lg
VL
A ; (4)
ε1 − ε2 k 2 L3∕2
where L1
AC, L2
BP, and L
AB are the paths in Fig. 4,
and either m
1 if the electric field is transverse to the plane of
incidence, i.e., perpendicular polarization, relevant to an elec-
tric line current, or m
ε1 ∕ε2 in the case where the electric
field is on the plane of incidence, i.e., parallel polarization,
relevant to a magnetic line current. Furthermore, with reference
to Fig. 4, we use r 1
CP and r 2
CT  TP. We can see
that the angle of incidence of the lateral-wave ray is exactly
the critical angle θL , while the angle of incidence of the reflected
wave is θ2 > θL . Equation (4) is valid when k1 r 2 ≫ 1 and in
particular when terms of the order k 1 r 2 −3∕2 are negligible.
Moreover, terms of the order k 2 L−5∕2 are neglected, and both
jn1 ∕n2 2 − 1j and k2 L are sufficiently large. When k 2 L → 0,
 Tutorial Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
Fig. 4. Geometrical rays representing the incidence of a cylindrical
wave generated by a line current centered on C. Three paths are
described: CP is the path of the direct ray from the source to the
observation point, CT  TP is the path of the reflected ray, and CA 
AB  BP is the path of the lateral ray.
this expression is no longer valid and more accurate expressions
must be implemented involving the Weber–Hermite function,
i.e., the parabolic cylinder function [5,39].
The amplitude of the lateral wave decays as k 2 L−3∕2 , which
is much stronger than the decrease of the geometrical-optics
fields which, being cylindrical waves, decay as kr−1∕2 .
Therefore, the lateral wave weakly contributes to the electro-
magnetic field and is hard to be observed as a separate compo-
nent of the total field. We must notice that the behavior
k2 L−3∕2 is strongly connected to the lateral wave and does
not depend on the particular excitation that we are considering;
in fact, it is possible to see the same dependence with different
sources. If we consider, for example, the three-dimensional case
with an elemental dipole above the surface instead of the line
current, we would find exactly the same expression in Eq. (4)
multiplied by a term x −1∕2 connected to the spherical wavefront
[31]. What is exactly the same in both the two- and three-
dimensional cases is the expression of the lateral-wave phase:
ϕL
k1 L1  L2   k 2 L: (5)
In this phase, we can notice three different contributions: the
path k 1 L1 , in medium 1 from the source to the interface; the
path k2 L, in medium 2, below the interface; and the path k 1 L2 ,
from the interface to the observation point P. We can prove
that this path is shorter than both the path of the incident field,
ϕi
k2 r 1 , and the one of the reflected field, ϕr
k1 r 2 . We
can write these phases as follows:
k x
ϕi
1 ; (6)
sin θ1
k1 x
ϕr
; (7)
sin θ2
ϕL
k1 L1  L2   k 1 L sin θL
 
h z

k1   x − h  z tan θL  sin θL
cos θL cos θL
 
hz

k1 x cos θL  sin θL : (8)
x such velocities, by finding the crossover distance, it is possible
Now, we can note that
1489
hz

cot θ2 ; (9)
x
cosθL − θ2 

cos θL cot θ2  sin θL : (10)
sin θ2
Hence,
k1 x
ϕL
cosθL − θ2 : (11)
sin θ2
At this point, we can compare the different phases. We can note
that θ2 < θ1 , then sin θ2 < sin θ1 and ϕi < ϕr , i.e., the direct
ray is always shorter than the reflected ray, an obvious consid-
eration. We can also see that ϕL < ϕr , being cosθL − θ2  < 1.
Moreover, we can write the lateral-wave phase as follows:
sin θ1
ϕL
ϕi cosθL − θ2 : (12)
sin θ2
Hence, an interval of values of θ1 that make ϕL < ϕi surely
exists. Therefore, for certain observation points, the lateral wave
is the one with the shortest optical path, i.e., is the first wave to
reach the observer. This is the reason for some of the different
names, such as “refraction arrival wave” or “head wave.” This
phenomenon is because the lateral wave propagates for a long
distance L in the rarer medium 2, so it is faster than the other
waves that propagate in medium 1.
This behavior of the lateral wave is extremely useful in
acoustics, in the analysis of the seismic phenomena, and in
the study of Earth’s structure. We can give an extremely sim-
plified description of Earth’s crust as a layer of thickness h be-
tween air and a deeper half-space, called the mantle. In this
case, we can consider z
0 on the mantle surface. The elastic-
wave velocity in the layer is lower than the one in the mantle.
Therefore, when a source generates a wave on Earth’s surface,
three waves can be considered: a direct wave, traveling at the
air–Earth boundary; a reflected wave on the interface between
the crust and the mantle; and a lateral wave, traveling for a
distance L in the mantle. If we consider a receiver placed on
Earth’s surface, i.e., θ1
π∕2 and z
h referring to Fig. 4,
at a distance x larger than a critical distance x c , called crossover
distance, then the lateral wave reaches the receiver before
the direct wave [40]. The crossover distance can be obtained
by equating the direct and lateral phases; from Eqs. (6) and (8),
we obtain
 
cos θL v  v 1 1∕2
x c
2h
2h 2 : (13)
1 − sin θL v2 − v1
Under the condition x > x c , the lateral wave precedes the direct
wave. This means that a signal, much more attenuated, reaches
the receiver before the direct one. This phenomenon led to one
of the most important discoveries about Earth’s structure [40]:
the determination of the thickness of Earth’s crust, i.e., the dis-
tance between Earth’s surface and mantle. This measurement is
possible by knowing the position of the source and the starting
time of the signal. Measuring the arrival time of the two waves
for different distances between the source and the receiver, it is
possible to obtain the velocities in the two media. Then, from
to find the thickness of the crust.
 1490 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
This behavior of the lateral wave finds many electromagnetic
applications, too, e.g., radio communication over Earth’s sur-
face, submarine communications and detection, or the mea-
surement of the permittivity and conductivity of the oceanic
crust. For example, it can be shown that if an electromagnetic
source is placed near the interface (h ≈ 0), then there is a solid
angle in the rarer medium, where the lateral wave arrives with a
higher power than both the direct and reflected waves. This
effect can be used to reduce signal attenuation in communica-
tion applications [36]. Communication with submerged
submarines is made difficult by the high conductivity of salt
water, between 2.8 and 4 S/m, depending on the salt concen-
tration, which causes a strong attenuation of the electromag-
netic fields. If communication between two submarines is
considered, then the direct path is totally in sea water, and
the field is strongly attenuated. On the other hand, if we con-
sider a source in the air, such as an aircraft, the space shuttle, or
a satellite, almost all of the incident power would be refracted
vertically because of the high permittivity of water; then the
communication is possible only if the transmitter and receiver
are aligned with the normal to the water interface. However, if
the source antenna is placed near the surface of the sea, it
excites a lateral wave on the interface, propagating in air and
carrying the signal horizontally, reducing the path in the high-
conductivity material. A similar application is relevant to radio
communications in a forest, where the tree layer is considered
as the high-conducting material.
The existence of the lateral wave can be explained by the
need of continuity between the wavefronts in the two media.
The incident, reflected, and refracted waves, at a sufficient dis-
tance from the source, have cylindrical wavefronts. We can
imagine what happens when a cylindrical pulse is emitted
by the line source in the time domain: the incident wavefront
starts from the source, at a distance h from the boundary. When
the incident wave reaches the interface, the reflected and re-
fracted waves start to propagate in media 1 and 2, respectively.
Fig. 5. (a) Representation of the cylindrical wavefronts of the incident, reflected, and transmitted waves, V i , V r , and V t , respectively, due to a line
source centered on a point on the z axis and placed at a distance h from the interface. The segment ST represents the plane front of the lateral wave
that makes the field at the interface continuous. (b) Representation of the elementary plane wave, relevant to the spectrum of the field excited by the
line source, at the incident angle θL .
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The incident and reflected waves propagate with velocity
v 1
c∕n1 , while the refracted wave propagates with velocity
v 2
c∕n2 , where c is the speed of light in a vacuum, and
n1 and n2 are the refractive index of media 1 and 2, respectively.
The reflected wave is centered at −h because of the image
principle. Therefore, the incident and reflected wavefronts
are always coincident on the interface; see Fig. 5(a). When
the geometrical-optics rays of the incident and reflected waves
form an angle θ > θL , total reflection begins and no transmit-
ted wave will be excited. Since v2 > v 1 , the last refracted wave-
front will reach a further distance from the origin on the
interface, with respect to the incident and reflected waves.
The lateral wave is needed to ensure the continuity of the wave-
fronts; see Fig. 5(a). Through geometric considerations, we can
prove that sin θL
n2 ∕n1 . In fact, by considering Fig. 5(a), we
see that the cylindrical wavefronts of the incident and reflected
waves, V i and V r , respectively, at an angle θ > θL , intercept
the interface at point R, while the transmitted cylindrical wave,
V t , centered at the origin intercepts the interface at point T.
The segment passing to T and tangent to the wavefront V r is
the line that makes the fronts continuous at the interface.
Therefore, the segment ST represents the plane front of the
lateral wave. The propagation direction of this wave forms an
angle θL with the perpendicular direction to the interface. Now,
we can recognize that after a time t, from the starting time, the
reflected wave has traveled a distance CS
CR
ct∕n1 . On
the other hand, at the same time t, the transmitted wave rel-
evant to the incidence at θ
θL has traveled a distance
OT
ct − t L ∕n2 , where t L is the delay time due to the
fact that the transmitted wave starts when the incident wave
impinges at an angle of θL < θ. From Fig. 5(a), the following
relation holds:
OT
OS 0  S 0 T; (14)
with
 Tutorial Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A 1491

OS 0
h tan θL ; (15)

 
S 0S CS − CS 0 1 ct h
S 0T


− : (16)
sin θL sin θL sin θL n1 cos θL
Hence,
 
ct − t L  1 ct h

h tan θL  − : (17)
n2 sin θL n1 cos θL
Solving for t L, we find the following expression: Fig. 6. Representation of a ray with a finite plane front, of width
  2w, incident on a prism with refraction index n1 immersed in a
ct L 1 1

ct −  h cot θL : (18) medium with index n2 < n1 . The incident angle of the beam on the
n2 n2 n1 sin θL horizontal interface of the prism is θL . The beam is totally reflected.
At this point, we note that the delay time, t L , must be a con- The dashed arrows represent the geometrical reflected beam, while
the solid arrows represent the actual reflected beam, shifted a distance
stant, independent of t. Imposing this condition, we find
D. The gray arrows represent the lateral wave because of the total
1 1 n reflection.
−
0 ⇒ sin θL
2 ; (19)
n2 n1 sin θL n1
obtaining the well-known expression of the critical angle of to-
exp−jk1 z i − x i ∕w2 
tal reflection. Moreover, inserting such expression in Eq. (18), Vi
pffiffiffi : (21)
we get the following relation for the delay time: πw
ct L The reflected beam at the horizontal interface can be obtained

h cos θL : (20) as a superposition of two fields: V r
V 0  V 1 . The expres-
n1
sions of these fields are quite complicated and can be written as
This expression is the path traveled by the incident wave from follows [39]:
the starting time in correspondence with the current line posi-
exp−jk 1 z r − x r ∕w2 
tion to the incidence at θ
θL ; see Fig. 5(b). This result allows V 0
Rkxi  pffiffiffi ; (22)
us to relate the previous quasi-optical arguments to the plane- πw
wave spectrum considerations of Section 1. In fact, the current  
line pulse can be decomposed into an angular spectrum, and 2 expγ 2 − jπ1∕4
V 1
Aθi V 0 −δ1∕2 − pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi D1∕2 γ ;
Eq. (20) tells us that the only elementary wave of the spectrum k1 w
that excites the lateral wave is the one incident at an angle θL , (23)
i.e., the plane wave relevant to the branch-point singularity k 2.
Furthermore, we see that when the source is on the interface, where D1∕2 is the parabolic cylinder function of order 1∕2 in
i.e., h
0, then there is no delay between the three waves, i.e., the Whitaker notation, related to the Weber–Hermite function
the transmitted wave at the critical angle is excited at the start- [44]. (It must not be confused with the Weber function E n
ing time, and the distance between the fronts is due only to the related to the inhomogeneous Bessel differential equation
speed difference. and strongly related to the Struve function.) Moreover, we
Finally, we want to show an important connection between define
the lateral wave and the so-called Goos–Hänchen shift, an im- 4mcos2 θL sin θi
portant effect in optics, involving the reflection of beams with a Aθi 
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ;
cos2 θi  m2 sin2 θi − sin2 θL  cos θi sin θi  sin θL 
finite-width wavefront [41–43]. If we consider a prism and a
beam incident perpendicularly to its edge, the incident beam (24)
will be reflected by the other edge of the prism; see Fig. 6. We  
pffiffiffi ik1 wδ x r
call 2w the beam width, and we suppose that the incident angle γ
2 − ; (25)
is equal to the critical angle θL . Solving the problem geomet- 2 w
rically, we expect that the reflected beam is centered on a line
obtained by the reflection of the center ray of the incident
beam. On the other hand, measurements show that the re- δ
sin θi − sin θL  sec θ ≈ θi − θL ; (26)
flected beam is shifted by a certain distance D with respect where the approximation in Eq. (26) holds only if θi ≈ θL .
to such line. Looking at Eq. (22), we immediately recognize the geometric
We consider the incident beam as a Gaussian beam. reflected beam (without shift) as represented by the dashed
Defining a reference frame x i ; z i , with x i parallel to the arrows in Fig. 6. On the other hand, the field in Eq. (23) is
incident-beam propagation direction, and a reference frame quite complicated, and it is not easy to recognize its behavior.
x r ; z r , with x r parallel to the reflected-beam propagation However, we can see that for x r < 0 this field decays exponen-
direction, the incident field perpendicular to the plane of in- tially very fast, while for x r ≫ w its behavior can be simplified
cidence can be written as follows: as follows [39]:
 1492 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
k exp−jk 2 x  π∕4
V 1 ≈ p1 ffiffiffi Rkx Aθi  exp−k1 wδ∕22  :
2 π k 1 x cos θi 3∕2
(27)
Now, we can recognize the typical decreasing behavior of a
lateral wave x 3∕2 . Therefore, we can assume that the field V 1
is a lateral wave, as shown with the gray arrows in Fig. 6.
Summarizing, the reflection of a Gaussian beam can be consid-
ered as the superposition of two contributions: the geometric
reflection V 0 plus the lateral wave V L . Analyzing the amplitude
of these two fields, we find that V 0 is a Gaussian bell centered
at x
0, while V 1 is composed of two bells having a common
zero in x
Δx; see Fig. 7. (The phases of V 0 and V 1 are plot-
ted in the case z r
0, because the difference between these
phases is independent of z r . In fact, as can be seen from
Eqs. (22) and (23), the phase dependence on z r is the same
in the two fields.) The first bell, for x < Δx, has a phase equal
to −135°, and then is in a destructive superposition with V 0 ,
while the second bell, for x > Δx, has a phase equal to 45°, and
then is in a constructive superposition with V 0 . Now, we can
understand the relation between the Goos–Hänchen shift and
the lateral wave. In the zone between x
0 and x
Δx, the
two fields V 0 and V 1 subtract from each other and result in a
zero field, while in the zone x > Δx∕2, they sum to each other
giving a beam shift of Δx.
3. SURFACE WAVE
A surface wave is a field propagating along a planar surface,
without radiation. In this sense, surface waves strongly differ
from lateral and leaky waves because such waves propagate
either in the first or in the second medium, while the surface
wave is confined to the interface; then it is a guided wave. This
guiding behavior makes the surface wave very important in
applications, and it is the reason for much of the efforts made
in its study. Several specialized papers and books have been
published on the topic, e.g., [6,7,9,12,13,15,45–50]. The
nature of the surface wave as a guiding wave gives us an easy
Fig. 7. (a) Magnitude, in a logarithmic scale, normalized with respect to its maximum value and (b) phase, in degrees, of the field V 0 in Eq. (22)
(dashed line). Also, (a) magnitude, in a logarithmic scale, normalized with respect to the maximum value of V 0 and (b) phase, in degrees, of the field
V 1 in Eq. (23) (solid line). The interface is considered between the medium with refractive index n1
1.94 and air, n2
1, while the incident wave
has a half-width of w
1000λ2 . The plots are considered in the case z r
0.
Tutorial
way to define it by simple considerations. In fact, we can ask,
“Is it possible to obtain a guided wave at the interface between
two homogeneous lossless dielectrics?” The answer can be easily
obtained by the following argument. Let us consider the inter-
face between two media stratified along the z direction, and let
us consider a propagating wave along the x direction. Being a
two-dimensional structure, we know that the electromagnetic
field can be decomposed into two uncoupled parts: a TE field,
having only the components E y , H x , and H z ; and a TM field,
having the components E x , E z , and H y . In both cases, the
problem can be solved by considering only one scalar function,
i.e., the E y component in the TE field and the H y component
in the TM field. Let us consider first the TE case. The electric
field in the two media can be written as follows,
E 1y
A1 exp−jk x x  k1z z; (28)
E 2y
A2 exp−jk x x  k2z z; (29)
while the magnetic field components can be obtained by
Maxwell’s equations. We are looking for a field that propagates
along the surface. The wave-vector components orthogonal
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi to
the interface must be purely imaginary: k 1z
k 21 − k2x

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
−jα1z and k 2z
k22 − k 2x
jα2z , with α1z , α2z > 0. Here,
the different signs of the components orthogonal to the inter-
face are due to the radiation condition that the field in medium
1 must decay in the positive z direction, while the field in
medium 2 must decay in the opposite direction. By imposing
the continuity of the tangential components to the interface of
the electric and magnetic fields, i.e., E y and H x , we find the
following conditions:
A1
A2 ; (30)
A1 k 1z
A2 k 2z : (31)
Hypothesizing A1 ≠ 0, from Eq. (31) we find
 Tutorial Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
α1z  α2z
0: (32)
This equation does not allow solutions since α1z and α2z are
both positive real numbers. Therefore, a TE field cannot be
a guided mode of a planar boundary between two homo-
geneous lossless media.
Let us now consider the TM polarization. In this case,
the field is completely described by the following scalar
components:
H 1y
A1 exp−jk x x  k 1z z; (33)
H 2y
A2 exp−jk x x  k 2z z; (34)
where the electric field components can be obtained by
Maxwell’s equations. The same previous considerations on
k 1z and k2z apply. Imposing the continuity of the tangential
field components, we find
A1
A2 ; (35)
k1z k Fresnel reflection coefficients, for both TE and TM polariza-
A1
A2 2z : (36)
ωε0 ε1 ωε0 ε2
Hypothesizing A1 ≠ 0, from Eq. (36) we find
ε2 α1z  ε1 α2z
0: (37)
If we now suppose that the two permittivities ε1 and ε2 have
different signs, then Eq. (37) can be solved. Therefore, we
proved that a guided TM mode can propagate at the interface
between two homogeneous lossless dielectrics. One may note
that we are considering an idealized situation, with two lossless
dielectrics, without surface roughness, and with a perfectly pla-
nar boundary; in real life, such a kind of wave cannot exist.
However, what we did is exactly what is done in the derivation
of the TEM-wave propagation associated with twin parallel
conductors where a lossless guided wave is supposed, or with
the guided modes inside smooth hollow metal tubes modeled
by perfectly conducting walls. Such waves cannot exist in
practice, but they are suitable models to describe practical
structures [13].
If now we suppose ε1 > 0 and ε2 < 0, the expression of
the wave-vector component parallel to the interface can be
obtained:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ε1 ε2
kx
k0 : (38)
ε1  ε2
Here, we see that the wave-vector component is purely real only
if jε2 j > ε1 . If this condition is not fulfilled, the wave-vector
component becomes purely imaginary and the mode does
not propagate anymore. Before giving further details on the
properties of the surface wave, we must understand why it exists
only in TM polarization. The answer to this query can be found
in solid-state physics. In fact, the propagation component in
Eq. (38) corresponds to the propagation constant of a surface
polariton mode. A polariton is a wave due to the coupling be-
tween electric polarization and a photon [51]. Actually, several
different types of polaritons can be considered, for example, the
polariton due to the interaction between an electric field and
electrons in a plasma, called plasmon polariton, or the
1493
polariton due to the interaction between an electric field
and the vibrational modes of the ions in a polar dielectric; this
time the coupling of the electric polarization is with a phonon,
so it is called a phonon polariton. If we consider the surface
plasmon polariton, i.e., the coupling between the electric field
and the electrons of a plasma on a surface, we can easily under-
stand why the mode must be TM. In fact, the coupling must be
along the surface, i.e., the electrons and the electric field inter-
act along the boundary between the two media. Therefore, a
component of the electric field along the interface must exist in
order to guarantee the interaction.
Equation (38) is very important and allows us to consider
the dispersive properties of a surface wave by knowing the dis-
persive behavior of the materials. However, before going
through these properties, we want to show two alternate ways
to reach such an expression. These two ways are based on to-
tally different considerations, forgetting the idea of guiding
waves and considering propagating solid waves. If we consider
a wave propagating in medium 1, incident on the planar boun-
dary with medium 2, then we can write the expression of the
tions, as follows:
k1z − k 2z
R TE
; (39)
k1z − k 2z
ε2 k 1z − ε1 k 2z
R TM
: (40)
ε2 k 1z − ε1 k 2z
If we look for the cancellation of these coefficients, as if we were
looking for the total transmission of the incident wave, i.e., as if
we were looking for the so-called Brewster angle, we obtain
exactly Eqs. (31) and (36). Therefore, we find the same results,
i.e., the effect occurs only in TM polarization, and the parallel
component of the incident wave vector is Eq. (38). Actually, the
wave found following this way is not, in general, a surface wave.
In fact, we know that if k1z and k 2z are two purely real quan-
tities, then the solution corresponds to the incident and trans-
mitted waves at the Brewster angle. However, if we impose that
the incident wave is inhomogeneous, i.e., that it presents an
attenuation in a direction perpendicular to the phase direction,
then we find a surface wave. In other words, we can say that the
surface wave is an inhomogeneous plane wave incident at the
boundary between two media with ε1 ε2 < 0, at the Brewster
angle. It can easily be proved that the Brewster angle in this case
is 90°. The connection between the surface wave and the
Brewster angle was identified in very early research on the
subject [13].
The last way we want to show to reach the result in Eq. (38)
is of a mathematical type. If we consider a generic cylindrical
source in medium 1, near the boundary with a medium 2, then
the plane-wave spectrum of the field due to the interaction be-
tween the incident field and the interface will be expressed by
the integral in Eq. (1). The function skx , as said in Section 1,
depends on the source properties and the interface. Actually,
when the boundary between two homogeneous media is con-
sidered, then the spectrum can be written as follows:
sk x 
Rk x s 0 kx ; (41)
 1494 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A Tutorial

where Rkx  is the Fresnel reflection coefficient of the relevant ωp

ω < ωsp
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ; (44)
polarization, while s 0 kx  is the plane-wave spectrum of the 1  ε1
field excited by the source. As explained in Section 1, the sur-
if ε2 < 0 and ω > ωsp , the argument of the square root be-
face waves are related to the real polar singularities of the kernel
comes negative and the parallel component of the propagation
in the spectral representation in Eq. (1). Independently of the
vector becomes purely imaginary. As a consequence, the surface
behavior of the source, in the spectrum from Eq. (41), the polar
wave becomes evanescent, being purely attenuated in both the
singularities of the Fresnel coefficient must be considered. If we
x and z directions. When ω > ωp , ε2 is larger than zero and the
consider the TE polarization, we can easily see that the denom-
propagation starts again. However, for these values of permit-
inator of the coefficient in Eq. (39) cannot be canceled when
tivity the perpendicular component k z cannot be purely imagi-
the square-root determination is the same for the two compo-
nary, and the wave is not a surface wave anymore. In fact, in this
nents k1z and k 2z . On the other hand, the denominator of the
case we come back to the total transmission of a homogeneous
coefficient in Eq. (40) can be canceled when ε1 and ε2 have
wave at the boundary between two dielectrics. It is interesting
different signs, finding the expression for k x in Eq. (38).
to note that the band ωsp < ω < ωp is a forbidden band for the
Here, we showed how the existence of a surface wave can be
propagation, i.e., it is a so-called bandgap.
proven by three different arguments: by looking for a guided
The dispersive behavior of kx in the case of a surface plas-
wave at the interface between two homogeneous materials, by
mon polariton is shown in Fig. 8, using normalized quantities.
looking for the total transmission of an inhomogeneous wave at
We can see that for low frequencies, when ε2 → −∞, the par-
the interface between two materials, and by looking for the
allel component of the propagation vector tends to k0 . On the
polar-singularity contribution in the plane-wave spectrum of
other hand, for values ω → ωsp , the parallel component grows
the reflected field by a boundary between two materials in the
indefinitely. This growth leads the wave to have a wavelength
presence of an arbitrary source. In all three cases, we find the
much smaller than the vacuum wavelength. This behavior, well
same characteristics: (1) the surface wave is a TM wave; (2) to
known from the 1970s [52], has been reconsidered in recent
support the surface wave, the sign of the permittivity must be
years as a way to go beyond the diffraction limit [19,53,54].
different in the two media; (3) the component of the propa-
During the 1990s, the possibility of subwavelength propaga-
gation vector parallel to the interface must have the expression
tion was described, opening the way to nanophotonics
in Eq. (38). It is important to point out that these consider-
[55,56], i.e., the propagation and manipulation of light at
ations hold in the simple case of lossless materials. The consid-
the nanoscale, impossible with conventional waves because
eration of dissipative materials makes the analysis much more
of the diffraction limit. The analysis of nanophotonics features
complicated, and we will have only a look at this case.
go behind the scope of this paper. Here, we just give a brief
At this point, we can analyze Eq. (38) in more detail. To
understand the behavior of a surface wave, we must specify explanation on the origin of such subwavelength behavior. If
the kind of material that we are considering. We start from we consider the component of the propagation vector parallel
the case of a surface plasmon polariton, i.e., a surface wave to the interface, Eq. (38), we can define the surface-wave wave-
at the interface between a lossless dielectric, medium 1, e.g., air, length as follows:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
and a metal behaving as a plasma, medium 2, described with 2π ε  ε2
the Drude model [51]. If we neglect dissipation, the relative λs

λ0 1 : (45)
kx ε1 ε2
permittivity of a free-electron plasma can be written as follows:
ω2p
ε2
1 − ; (42)
ω2
where
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
N e2
ωp
43
ε0 m0
is the plasma angular frequency, e is the electron charge, m0 is
the electron rest mass, and N is the number of electrons per
unit volume. Typical values of ωp ∕2π for metals are between
0.5 and 2.5 × 1016 Hz, i.e., at optical frequencies. The disper-
sive behavior in Eq. (42) is well known: the permittivity is neg-
ative below the critical value ωp , and is positive above this value,
tending to 1 when the frequency goes to infinity. Therefore,
metals have a negative permittivity below the plasma angular
Fig. 8. Dispersion behavior (solid line) of the component of the
frequency and the surface wave can propagate at the dielectric–
propagation vector parallel to the interface, k x , of a surface wave,
metal interface. As previously noted, the surface wave can Eq. (38), for the interface between air and silver, where the permittivity
propagate only if the quantity under the square root in Eq. (38) of silver is obtained by the Drude model in Eq. (42). The variables are
is positive. If ε2 < 0, it happens when jε2 j > ε1 . Therefore, by normalized with respect to the plasma angular frequency ωp, Eq. (43).
inserting the Drude permittivity, when the angular frequency is The light speed line is represented by the dashed line. The two hori-
less than a critical value, zontal dotted lines correspond to the angular frequencies ωsp and ωp .
 Tutorial Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
In the frequency band where the surface-wave propagation is
allowed, i.e., ω < ωsp , in the case of plasmon polaritons, kx
is always larger than k 0 . As a consequence, the surface-wave
wavelength will always be lower than the vacuum wavelength,
i.e., λs < λ0 . Therefore, the wave interacts with distances much
smaller than the wavelength. This behavior can be exploited to
realize guiding structures at the nanoscale for waves at optical
frequencies, or to achieve the focusing of an optical beam in a
region of space much smaller than λ0 .
A consequence of the subwavelength behavior of the surface
waves is the fact that their phase velocity is slower than the
speed of light:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ω ωλ ε  ε2
vϕ

s
c 1 : (46)
kx 2π ε1 ε2
Therefore, vϕ < c. For this reason, surface waves are often
called slow waves. Moreover, we can see that the dispersion
curve of a surface wave is always below the light speed line,
as can be seen in Fig. 8.
We discussed the propagation of a surface wave at the air–
metal interface, due to the interaction between the electric field
and the free electrons of the metal. The surface plasmon polar-
itons (SPPs) can be supported by more complicated structures
such as multilayer ones, e.g., air–metal–air or metal–metal in-
terfaces [50]. Moreover, SPPs are not the only polaritons that
can be considered. As mentioned before, the electric field in-
teracts with the vibrational modes in polar solids, resulting in
phonon polaritons [51]. As is well known, the vibrational
modes can be either longitudinal or transverse. When these
modes interact with light, they are called longitudinal optic
(LO) phonon modes and transverse optic (TO) phonon modes,
respectively. If we consider a polar dielectric, i.e., a dielectric
with bound ions, the interaction between the electric oscillating
field and the ions can be treated by considering a linear chain:
while the field wavelength is much larger than the ion dimen-
sion, the positive and negative ions oscillate out of phase
relative to each other. Being the electromagnetic wave trans-
versely polarized, the TO phonon modes are excited. In the
differential equation, describing the interaction between the
electric field and the ions, there will be second-order terms re-
lated to the acceleration, zero-order terms related to the restor-
ing force due to the ion bounds, and the external force due to
the electric field. As a consequence, the behavior is described by
a dielectric constant similar to the one of a Lorentz model [51]:
ω2TO
ε2
ε∞  εst − ε∞  ; (47)
ω2TO − ω2
where the damping has been neglected. In Eq. (47), ε∞ is the
high-frequency permittivity and εst is the low-frequency (static)
one, while ωTO is the characteristic resonance angular fre-
quency of the TO phonon, related to the restoring force
and the masses of the bounded ions. Since the losses have been
neglected, the expression in Eq. (47) is discontinuous in ωTO ,
tending to ∞ in the left neighborhood and to −∞ in the right
neighborhood of ωTO . The interesting feature of Eq. (47) is
that it can be zero for a particular angular frequency ωLO :
rffiffiffiffiffiffi
εst
ωLO
ωTO : (48)
ε∞
1495
Since εst > ε∞ , we can see that ωLO > ωTO . The relation in
Eq. (48) is known as the Lyddane–Sachs–Teller relationship,
and it has been experimentally validated in several polar solids,
e.g., gallium arsenide, boron nitride, and zinc selenide [51,57].
When the permittivity is equal to zero, the propagation of
longitudinal electromagnetic waves is allowed, and this is the
reason for the subscript of the frequency. (We remind the
reader that in the absence of free charges, Gauss’ law gives
∇ · D
0. If we consider a plane wave with a spatial depend-
ence of the type exp−jk · r, such an equation becomes
−jk · εE
0. This equation requires that the electric field
is always transverse to the propagation direction, except when
the permittivity is zero. In this case, the propagation of longi-
tudinal waves is allowed.) Therefore, at this frequency, the
electromagnetic wave can excite LO phonon modes. It can
be seen that for ω < ωTO and ω > ωLO , the permittivity
(47) is always positive, while in the range of ωTO < ω <
ωLO it is negative. This zone is called the reststrahlen band (rest-
strahlen in German means “residual rays” and indicates a zone
where light cannot propagate), where the electromagnetic wave
propagation is forbidden; in such band, the polar dielectric
presents a reflectivity equal to unity. If losses are considered,
the reflectivity decreases but measurements show reflectivities
up to 90%. In this band, polariton propagation is allowed. The
dispersion behavior of the component parallel to the interface
of the propagation vector at the interface between air and a
polar dielectric is shown in Fig. 9. In contrast to the plasmonic
case, we see that this time there is no bandgap. At any fre-
quency, the propagation is allowed. However, outside the rest-
strahlen band, the dispersion curve lies over the speed of light
line, i.e., k x < k0 . On the other hand, into the reststrahlen
band, the curve is below the light speed line, indicating the
propagation of a phonon polariton mode. It must be noted that
the dispersion curve in the reststrahlen band does not tend to
the value ωLO but to a smaller angular frequency ωs. Such an-
gular frequency can be obtained by imposing ε2
−ε1 in
Eq. (47), obtaining [58,59]
Fig. 9. Dispersion behavior (solid line) of the component of the
propagation vector parallel to the interface, k x , of a surface wave,
Eq. (38), for the interface between air and gallium arsenide, where the
permittivity of the gallium arsenide is obtained by Eq. (47). The var-
iables are normalized with respect to the TO angular frequency ωTO.
The light speed line is represented by the dotted line. The two hori-
zontal dashed lines represent the angular frequencies ωTO and ωLO .
 1496 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A Tutorial

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
εst  ε1
ωs
ωTO : (49)
ε∞  ε1
As a final remark, we want to share a few words about the
surface waves at the interface with a dissipative medium. The
possibility to define a surface wave at the interface between
lossy media is an important task widely discussed in the liter-
ature. The crucial point here is that in an absorbing material,
because of the dispersion equation, the constant-phase and
constant-amplitude planes of an inhomogeneous plane wave
cannot be perpendicular to each other. Therefore, if we require
that the surface wave has the phase vector parallel to the inter-
face, then it cannot have the attenuation vector perpendicular
to it. As a consequence, either the attenuation or the phase is
oblique with respect to the perpendicular direction to the inter-
face. For this reason, in the case of dissipative media, the surface
wave takes several names due to the different characteristics of
the involved media. In Table 1, a possible classification of the
different kinds of surface waves in lossy media is presented
[50,60]. The classification is relevant to the case of a boundary
between air and a dissipative material. When the second
medium has a negative real part of the permittivity and is
slightly dissipative, then the surface mode is a polariton mode,
i.e., it is a “true” surface mode, being the wave propagating par-
allel to the surface and closely confined on it. On the other
hand, when the real part of the permittivity is −1 < ε20 < 0,
the wave cannot be confined to the interface because the am-
plitudes of the phase and attenuation vectors are almost equal,
making the wave strongly attenuated. When the real part of the
permittivity is positive and the losses are small, the transmitted
wave can be considered similar to the one in the lossless case as
in the total-transmission phenomenon. Finally, when the real
part of the permittivity is positive, but the losses are high, we
find the so-called Zenneck waves propagating in the lossy
medium closely confined to the boundary.
Until now, we considered the boundary between two homo-
geneous media, and we proved that in such a circumstance the
surface-wave propagation requires that one of the two media
presents a negative permittivity. However, if we suppose that
one of the two media be inhomogeneous, e.g., a stratified
medium, then the constraints disappear and we find a surface
wave considering only ordinary dielectrics. In this case, the
structure can be considered a dielectric-based waveguide,
widely studied in the electromagnetic applications [17].
Obviously, a great variety of structures might be considered,
increasing the number of dielectrics involved. The simplest
structures that can be considered are those with three dielec-
trics, i.e., a dielectric slab bounded by two half-spaces. Two
notable cases can be cited: the symmetric slab, where a dielec-
tric with a finite thickness is bounded by two half-spaces filled
with the same material, and the asymmetric slab, where the
dielectric is bounded by two different materials. Furthermore,
the case of a grounded slab can be considered: a dielectric of
finite thickness is bounded on one side by a half-space filled
by a homogeneous material and on the other side by a perfect
electric conducting plane. This structure is important for its
applications at microwave frequencies. The symmetric slab, as
a symmetric structure, can be bisected into two different struc-
tures: the grounded slab and the dielectric slab over a perfect
magnetic conducting plane. Moreover, the methods applied
to study the grounded slab are applicable to any stratified
structure. Therefore, here we study the grounded slab as an
example of a stratified structure. The simplest way to obtain
the dispersion curves of a stratified structure is the transverse
resonance method (TRM) [17].
Let us consider a perfect electric plane in z
0, a dielectric
slab over such plane, with thickness t, relative electric permit-
tivity ε2, and a half-space z > 0 filled by air; see Fig. 10(a). The
TRM consists of establishing a transmission line in the trans-
verse direction, in this case the z direction. The perfect electric
plane corresponds to a short circuit, the dielectric slab to a
transmission line of length t, with propagation constant k2z
and characteristic impedance Z 2 , dependent on the polariza-
tion, and the air half-space corresponds to a matched imped-
ance Z 0 , equal to the characteristic impedance of air, Fig. 10(b).
The line impedance has the following expressions in the two
polarizations [17]:
ωμ ωμ
Z0
0 ; Z 2
0 in TE polarization; (50)
k0z k 2z
k0z k 2z
Z0
; Z2
in TM polarization; (51)
ωε0 ωε0 ε2
where k0z is the component of the wave vector perpendicular to
the interface in air. The method requires the choice of a generic
transverse section of the transmission line and equating the sum
of the impedances seen upward and downward to zero:
↑ ↓
Z  Z
0: (52)
Choosing the section on the boundary between the dielectric
and air, the up-impedance is Z 0 , while the down-impedance is
↓
Z
jZ 2 tank2z t: (53)
Therefore, the resonance condition becomes

Table 1. Summary of Surface Waves

Dielectric Function Parallel Wave-Vector Perpendicular Wave- Phase
Wave ε2
ε20  iε20 0 Component Vector Component Velocity Comment
Fano ε20< −1 ε20 0
≪ jε20 j kx0 ≫ k x0 0 k z0 ≪ k z0 0 vϕ < c polariton mode
Evanescent −1 < ε20 < 0 ε20 0 ≈ jε20 j k x0 ≈ k x0 0 k z0 ≈ k z0 0 rapidly attenuating
Brewster ε20 > 0 ε20 0 ≪ jε20 j kx0 ≫ k x0 0 k z0 ≫ k z0 0 vϕ > c bound to surface only in the
presence of damping
Zenneck ε20 > 0 ε20 0 ≫ jε20 j kx0 ≫ k x0 0 k z0 ≈ k z0 0 vϕ > c propagates in the conducting
medium
 Tutorial Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
Fig. 10. (a) Sketch of a grounded dielectric slab with thickness t
and relative permittivity ε2. (b) The equivalent transmission line of
the grounded slab in the direction transverse to the propagation.
Z 0 cosk2z t  jZ 2 sink2z t
0: (54)
Equation (11) represents the dispersion equation of a grounded
slab. The solutions of this equation return all the possible
modes of the structure, i.e., the guided modes and the radiative
modes. This is a transcendental complex equation, so it has in
general complex solutions. In order to study the solutions, we
can write the dispersion equation in the two polarizations.
Inserting Eqs. (50) and (51) into Eq. (54), we get the following
equations:
k 2z cosk 2z t  jk 0z sink2z t
0 in TE polarization;
(55)
k 2z
k 0z cosk 2z t  j sink 2z t
0 in TM polarization:
ε2
(56)
Now, we can see that, for a surface wave, k0z is purely imaginary
and k2z is purely real. Then these equations become real, and
they have infinite countable real solutions, corresponding to the
discrete guided modes of the structure. These real solutions cor-
respond to the pole singularities on the real axis of the spectrum
in Eq. (1). Of course, such equations do not admit solutions
with both k 0z and k 2z real. On the other hand, several complex
solutions can be considered, corresponding to radiation modes
and to the complex pole singularities of the spectrum in Eq. (1):
they are the leaky modes of the structure.
Being transcendental equations, Eqs. (55) and (56) must
be solved numerically. The dispersion curves for both TE
and TM modes are shown in Fig. 11, as a function of normal-
ized quantities. We can see that the surface waves propagate in
the interval k 0 < kx < k2 . In the zone k x < k0 , we find the
continuous spectrum of the structure, i.e., the radiative modes.
Finally, we can see in Fig. 11 that TE modes are labeled with
odd numbers, while TM modes are labeled with even numbers.
This is because the modes of a grounded dielectric slab re-
present half of the modes of a symmetric dielectric slab. As pre-
viously pointed out, the other half of the modes are those of a
dielectric slab on a perfect magnetic conductor. It can be seen
that for such a structure, at the same cutoff frequency, a com-
plementary mode starts to propagate, so it shows the even TE
modes and the odd TM modes.
4. LEAKY WAVE
Leaky waves are a discrete set of radiated modes by a guiding
structure. Early research on leaky waves considers the metallic
1497
Fig. 11. Dispersion curves of a grounded dielectric slab, with
n
1.5, as a function of normalized quantities. The curves corre-
spond to the real solutions of Eqs. (55) and (56), indicated with
(dashed line) TEn and (solid line) TMn , respectively, with
n
0; 1; 2….
waveguide with some kind of aperture along the propagation
direction. From such aperture, the electromagnetic field is
leaked and the radiation can arise [61–63]. Dielectric guiding
structures, being open waveguides, are naturally suited to lose
energy by radiation, then are particularly useful in the gener-
ation of leaky waves. However, if one considers the simple pla-
nar boundary between two homogeneous media, then one can
note that a leaky wave is not supported by this structure. For
this structure, no complex poles are present in the plane-wave
spectrum. Therefore, to study leaky waves, one must consider
stratified structures. As an example, we can consider the
grounded dielectric slab already studied in Section 3 with refer-
ence to the surface waves. Let us consider a wave propagating in
the grounded dielectric slab of Fig. 10(a) in the positive x di-
rection, with a dependence exp−jk x x. If the wave is guided,
i.e., it is a surface wave, the z component of the propagation
vector will be purely real in the dielectric and purely imaginary
in air. Then the dispersion equation, either Eq. (55) or Eq. (56)
depending on the polarization, becomes purely real. However,
if one supposes that k 0z and k 2z may be complex, then several
other solutions of the dispersion equation are possible. These
solutions are relevant to the leaky wave. In this case, k0z
presents both a real and an imaginary part. As a consequence,
kx must present both a real and an imaginary part, too. We can
write the propagation vector as a sum of the real and imaginary
parts, k
β − jα, both of them with components along the
coordinate axes. The dispersion equation in free space,
k · k
k 20 , leads to
jβj2 − jαj2
β2 − α2
k20 ; (57)
β · α
βx αx  βz αz
0: (58)
These equations give the following information: (1) the mag-
nitude of the phase vector must always be larger than the am-
plitude of the attenuation vector, and the magnitudes of the
phase and attenuation vectors are dependent on each other;
(2) the constant-phase planes and constant-amplitude planes
are perpendicular; and (3) the four components of the phase
 1498 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A Tutorial

and attenuation vectors are not independent, and particularly,

fixing the sign of three components, the fourth must be deter-
mined by Eq. (58). From these considerations, we can conclude
that the leaky wave is an inhomogeneous wave propagating in
air. Let us now consider the signs of the components of the
phase and attenuation vectors. The sign of αx indicates the di-
rection in which the guiding structure is losing energy. If
αx > 0, the energy is lost during the propagation in the positive
x direction, and vice versa. Therefore, we can pose αx > 0 by
supposing a propagation inside the guiding structure in the pos-
itive x direction. At this point, we can consider the phase vector.
In particular, we can say that the leaky wave rises from the guid-
ing structure to the air, so the energy flow is upward. The
Poynting vector of an inhomogeneous wave in lossless media
is parallel to the phase vector, so the component βz must be
positive. These two constraints are the only physical conditions
on the sign of the two vectors. Then we have one free sign.
From Eq. (58), since αx , βz > 0, if βx > 0, then αz must
be negative, and if βx < 0, then αz must be positive. From this
argument, we find that two different leaky waves can radiate
from the structure: one with βx > 0, called a forward leaky wave
because the phase variation along x is concordant with the en-
ergy propagation direction; and another with βx < 0, called a
backward leaky wave because the phase variation along x is op-
posite to the energy propagation direction. Fig. 12. Sketch of the (a) forward and (b) backward leaky waves.
The forward leaky wave has an amplitude decreasing with x, The dashed lines represent the constant-amplitude planes. The
but increasing with z. Therefore, it exists only in an angular direction of the components of the phase and attenuation vectors are
specified.
sector θ > θ0 ; see Fig. 12(a). This limitation is required to re-
spect the radiation condition. If we consider a dielectric slab as a
guiding structure, it is interesting to note that if the slab is then we find a leaky wave, Fig. 14(a). From A to B, kx becomes
denser than the upper medium, then there are no leaky-wave purely real, while k0y is purely imaginary, directed in the neg-
solutions with small values of αx . In fact, in this case we find ative z direction; see Fig. 14(b). It is as if the leaky wave was
some solutions with αx
0, i.e., surface-wave solutions, and rotated from point A to point B, changing the radiation angle
the first solution with nonzero attenuation is strongly attenu- from θ0 to π∕2. The fact that kx is purely real, but kx > k 0 ,
ated. It means that for a dense dielectric slab, the leaky-wave depends on the dispersion equation: k20
k2x  k 2y
k 2x − α2y .
solution is not dominant, being strongly attenuated. On the This wave is not physically acceptable because it does not re-
other hand, if we consider a dielectric slab rarer than the upper spect the radiation condition in air in any angular sector.
medium, then we find some dominant leaky waves, i.e., leaky Therefore, it is a mathematical solution of the dispersion equa-
waves with small values of αx [16]. tion that does not correspond to a wave in the real structure.
Turning to the backward leaky wave, its principal properties From point B, the dispersion equation presents two solutions:
are the following: (1) their domain of existence is for an angular one is the dotted line in Fig. 13, for which the attenuation
sector with θ0 < 0, i.e., in the negative x direction, see along z keeps the same direction and grows in magnitude,
Fig 12(b); (2) the attenuation is positive in both the positive and the other one is the solid line from point B to point C,
x and z directions; (3) the propagation direction of energy, for which the attenuation along z goes to zero. The dotted line
parallel to β, is opposite, along x, to the propagation direction
in the guiding structure. The backward leaky waves are sup-
ported by structures with negative permittivity, such as plasmas,
or by nonuniform structures, such as periodic planar structures,
that are widely used in the generation of leaky waves.
We can see that both the surface and the leaky waves are
solutions of the dispersion Eqs. (55) and (56). Therefore, it
is possible to analyze the transition from a solution to the other
one [64]. Let us consider the dispersion diagram in Fig. 11, and
let us zoom in on one of the cutoff values; see Fig. 13. If we call
C the starting point of the dispersion curve of the surface wave,
then before this value we find the curves from point A to point
B and from point B to point C. Before point A, being β0x < k0 , Fig. 13. Dispersion curve in the transition region from a leaky wave
the components of the propagation vector must be complex, to a surface wave.
 Tutorial Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
is the improper solution that does not correspond to a physical
wave, while the solid line corresponds to a wave with a k2y
purely imaginary, that goes to zero. This solution does not exist,
but it brings one to the proper solution. In C, we find the wave
in Fig. 14(c), i.e., a surface wave at the cutoff. From point C,
the wave becomes a proper surface wave and the dispersion
curve becomes the same as Fig. 11. The propagation vector
of the wave is the one shown in Fig. 14(d). In this way, we
see that from point A to point C we studied the transition from
the leaky wave to the surface wave through a curve that does not
correspond to a physical wave. The steps of the transition in
terms of the propagation vector can be seen in Fig. 14.
The leaky wave generated by the guiding structure propa-
gates in air with an angle θ0
arctanβx ∕βz . If the attenua-
tion in the longitudinal direction is small, i.e., the guiding
structure radiates a small quantity of energy per unit length,
αx ∕k0 ≪ 1, then βx ≈ k 0 sin θ0 . From this relation it is pos-
sible to obtain an approximate relation for the radiation angle:
βx
sin θ0 ≈ : (59)
k0
From the dispersion diagram, we know that the ratio βx ∕k 0
varies with frequency; then the radiation angle θ0 depends
on the frequency. This dependence is one of the most impor-
tant properties of a leaky-wave antenna: it can generate a wave
at different angles simply by changing the working frequency.
On the other hand, a disadvantage of this kind of antennas is
their physical length. Since the longitudinal attenuation is
small, in order to radiate almost all the guided energy, the an-
tenna must have a length several times the wavelength. It is
possible to obtain the following approximate relation:
L 0.183k 0
≈ ; (60)
λ0 αx
where L is the longitudinal length of the antenna. Another cru-
cial point about leaky-wave antennas concerns the beam width.
In fact, from a theoretical point of view, the radiated wave
Fig. 14. Complex propagation vector of (a) a leaky wave, (b) a non-
physical wave in the transition region, (c) a surface wave at the cutoff,
and (d) a surface wave above the cutoff.
1499
should be a plane wave. However, several poles contribute
to the radiation, then the radiated wave is the superposition
of several plane waves at different angles. Therefore, the leaky
wave presents a divergence of the beam Δθ. This divergence is
proportional to the longitudinal attenuation:
α
Δθ ∝ x : (61)
k0
This is another reason why a small value of αx ∕k0 is often re-
quired: in order to enhance the directivity of the antenna.
Now, we want to give an optical explanation of the leaky-
wave excitation [16]. Let us consider a dielectric slab on a
ground plane. We suppose that the slab terminates on the
left-hand side with an interface with air; see Fig. 15. The nor-
mal to this interface forms an angle θ1 with z. Now, we consider
a plane wave coming from a point A, below the slab, incident at
an angle θ1 , and transmitted into the slab. This wave will be
partially refracted and partially reflected at the point O, the ori-
gin of the reference frame. After this first reflection, the ray
inside the slab is reflected on the ground plane and it is again
refracted and reflected at point C. The field in air is composed
of the sum of the refracted rays, where each of them is attenu-
ated with respect to the previous one due to the several reflec-
tions; see Fig. 15. Let us consider the amplitude of the field
incident on the origin equal to unity. Then the first refracted
field will be equal to
E 0
T e −jk1 x sin θ0 z cos θ0  ; (62)
where T k x  is the Fresnel transmission coefficient, while θ0 is
the transmitted angle. To obtain the expression of the second
refracted ray, we must consider the optics length traveled inside
the slab from the first refraction to the second one, i.e., from O
to C. This length is equal to k2 d ∕ cosθ1 . Therefore, the rth
refracted ray in air will assume the following expression:
−2rjk2 d
E r
−Rr T e cos θ1 e −jk1 x sin θ0 z cos θ0  : (63)
Here, R is the Fresnel reflection coefficient and the minus sign
in the first set of brackets on the right-hand side is due to the
reflections on the ground plane. At this point, we can note that
the equation of the line of the rth ray is the following:
Fig. 15. Geometrical-optics interpretation of a leaky wave: an optic
ray is generated in A, refracted inside a dielectric slab, partially reflected
at the points O, C, E, and G, and totally reflected on the ground plane
at the points B, D, and F. The wave that emerges in the upper space
(z > 0) occupies a wedge-shaped region, is attenuated in the x direc-
tion, and is amplified in the z direction.
 1500 Vol. 32, No. 8 / August 2015 / Journal of the Optical Society of America A
x − z tan θ0
2rd tan θ1 : (64)
The right-hand side of this equation represents the interception
between the rth ray and the x axis. In order to give Eq. (63) a
more readable form, we must make some assumptions about
the reflection coefficient. In particular, we must suppose that
the reflection coefficient is almost equal to unity, i.e., we must
suppose that the leaky wave is slightly attenuated in the x
direction. In this case, we can write the reflection coefficient
as follows:
−R
1 − δe −jΔ ; (65)
where δ is a positive real number. If the leaky wave is slightly
attenuated, then δ ≪ 1, and we can write
−R ≈ e −δ e −jΔ : (66)
Substituting Eqs. (64) and (66) into Eq. (63), we obtain
    17. C. A. Balanis, Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics, 2nd ed.
k Δ − jδ
E r ≈ T exp −j x k1 sin θ0  2 
sin θ1 2d tan θ1
 
k2 tan θ0 Δ − jδ
 z k1 cos θ0 − − tan θ0 : (67)
sin θ1 2d tan θ1
In this expression, we recognize the x and z components of the
propagation vector:
k2 Δ − jδ
k x
k 1 sin θ0   ; (68)
sin θ1 2d tan θ1
k2 tan θ0 Δ − jδ
k z
k 1 cos θ0 − − tan θ0 : (69)
sin θ1 2d tan θ1
Both of these components are complex, and in particular the
imaginary part, i.e., the attenuation, is negative in the x com-
ponent and positive in the z component, indicating that the
wave is attenuated in the positive x direction and amplified
in the positive z direction. In this way, we reconstructed a
plane-wave expression for the leaky wave and we found several
characteristics: (1) the complex nature of the components of the
propagation vector, (2) the field in the upper space is produced
by a leakage of energy from the guiding structure, (3) along the
z direction the field is amplified (improper wave), and (4) the
leaky wave exists only in a wedge-shaped region with an angle
θ0 . It is important to note that the propagation vector obtained
from the components in Eqs. (68) and (69) does not comply
with the dispersion relations in Eqs. (57) and (58) because of
the approximations made in the procedure.
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