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Diffraction and Interference of Electromagnetic Waves

Interference of electromagnetic waves continuing with the optical properties of
electromagnetic waves, we next consider interference. Interference occurs when two
waves that left one source and traveled by different paths arrive at a point. This
happens very often in high-frequency sky-wave propagation and in microwave space-
wave propagation. It arises when a microwave antenna is located near the ground, and
waves reach the receiving point not only directly but also after being reflected from
the ground. This is shown in following figure.
It is obvious that the direct path is shorter than the path with reflection. For some
combination of frequency and height of antenna above the ground, the difference
between paths 1 and 1' is bound to be exactly a half-wavelength. There will thus be
complete cancellation at the receiving point P if the ground is a perfect reflector and
partial cancellation for an imperfect ground. Another receiving point, Q, may be

Interference of direct and ground – reflected rays

Fig. 21

Radiation pattern with interference

Fig. 22
Located so that the path difference between 2 and 2' is exactly one wavelength. In this
case reinforcement of the received waves will take place at this point and will be
partial or total, depending on the ground reflectivity. A succession of such points
above one another may be found, giving an interference pattern consisting of alternate

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cancellations and reinforcements. A pattern of this form is shown in

The curve of this. joins points of equal electric intensity. The pattern is due to the
presence of an antenna at a height above the ground of about a wavelength, with
reflections from the ground (assumed to be plane and perfectly conducting) causing
interference. A pattern such as the one shown may be calculated or plotted from
actual field-strength measurements. The "flower petals" of the pattern are called
lobes. They correspond to reinforcement points such as Q of whereas the nulls
between the lobes correspond to cancellations such as P of
At frequencies right up to the VHF range, this interference will not be significant
because of the relatively large wavelengths of such signals. In the UHF range and
above, however, interference plays an increasing part in the behavior of propagating
waves and must definitely be taken into account. It is certainly of great significance in
radar and other microwave systems. For instance, if a target is located in the direction
of one of the null zones, no increase in the transmitted radar power will make this
target detectable. Again, the angle that the, first lobe makes with the ground is of
great significance in long-range radar. Here the transmitting antenna is horizontal and
the maximum range may be limited not by the transmitted power and receiver
sensitivity, but simply because the wanted direction corresponds to the first null zone.
It must be. Mentioned that a solution to this problem consists of increasing the
elevation of the antenna and pointing it downward.
Diffraction of radio waves Diffraction is yet another property shared with optics and
concerns itself with the behavior of electromagnetic waves, as affected by the
presence of small slits in a conducting plane or sharp edges of obstacles. It was first
discovered in the seventeenth century and put on a firm footing with the discovery of
Huygens' principle fairly soon afterward. Huygens principle states that every point on
a given (spherical) wavefront may be regarded as a source of waves from Which
further waves are radiated outward, in a manner as illustrate in below The total field
at successive points away from the source is then equal to the vector sum of these
secondary wavelets. For normal propagation, there is no need to take Huygens’
Principle into account, but it must be used when diffraction is to be accounted for.
Huygens ‘Principle can also be derived from Maxwell's equations.

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Fig. 23
If a plane wave is considered, as in above the question that arises immediately is why
the wavefront continues as a plane, instead of spreading out in all directions. The
answer is that an infinite plane wave has been considered, and mathematics shows
that cancellation of the secondary wavelets will occur in all directions other than the
original direction of the wavefront; thus the wavefront does continue as a plane.
Francesco Grimaldi discovered that no mailer how small a slit was made in an opaque
plane. Light on tile side opposite the source would spread out in all directions.
Similarly, No matter how small a light source was constructed. A sharp shadow could
not be obtained at the edge of a sharp opaque obstacle. The Dutch astronomer
Christian Huygens. The founder of the wave theory of light. gave an explanation for
these phenomena that was published in 1690 and is still accepted and-used.
When a finite plane wave is considered, the cancellation in spurious directions is no
longer complete, so that some divergence or scattering will take place. For this to be
noticeable, however, the wavefront must be small, such as that obtained with the aid
of the slot in a conducting plane, as in It is seen that instead of being "squeezed

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through" as a single ray, the wave spreads out past the slot, which now acts as
Huygens' point source on a wavefront and radiates in all directions. The radiation is
maximum (but not a sharp maximum if the slot is small) in front of the slot and
diminishes gradually away from it.
Below figure shows what happens when a plane wave meets the edge of an obstacle.
Although a sharp shadow might have been expected, diffraction takes place once
again for precisely the same reasons as before. If two near by points on the wavefront,
P and Q, are again considered. As sources of wavelets, it is seen that radiation at
angles away from the main direction of propagation is obtained. Thus the shadow
zone receives some radiation. If the obstacle edge had not been there, this side
radiation would have been canceled by other point sources on the wavefront.
Radiation once again dies down away from the edge, but not so gradually as with a
single slot because some interference takes place; this is the reason why two point
sources on the wavefront were shown. Given a certain wavelength and point
separation, it may well be that rays a and a', coming from P and Q, respectively, have
a path difference of a half-wavelength, so that their radiations cancel. Similarly, the
path difference between rays b and b' may be a whole wavelength, in which case
reinforcement takes place in that direction. When all the other point sources on the
wavefront are taken into account, the process becomes less sharp. However, the
overall result is still a succession of interference fringes (each fringe less bright than
the previous) as one move away from the edge of the obstacle.
This type of diffraction is of importance in two practical situations. First, signals
propagated by means of the space wave may be received behind tall buildings,
mountains and other similar obstacles as a result of diffraction. Second, in the design
of microwave antennas, diffraction plays a major part in preventing narrow pencil of
radiation which is often desired, by generating unwanted side lobes

Fig. 24
Diffraction around the edge of an obstacle

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