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AntennaTutorialsMathematicalAnalysisofWaveguides

MathematicalAnalysisofWaveguides
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Inthissection,wewilltakeamathematicallookatwaveguidesandderivesomeoftheirkey
properties.Wewillagainbeconcernedwithmetal(perfectlyconducting)waveguideswitha
rectangularcrosssectionasshowninFigure1.

Figure1.GeometryforWaveguideAnalysis.
Ifyouweren'taware,electromagneticsisgovernedbyMaxwell'sEquations,andMaxwell's
Equationsarenoteasytosolve.Hence,everymathtricksomeonecanthinkofwillbeusedin
ordertomaketheanalysistractable.We'llstartwithdiscussingtheelectricvectorpotential,F.
Inasourcefreeregion(i.e.,anareathroughwhichwavespropagatethatisawayfromsources),
weknowthat:

Intheabove,DistheElectricFluxDensity.Ifavectorquantityisdivergenceless(asinthe
above),thenitcanbeexpressedasthecurlofanotherquantity.Thismeansthatwecanwrite
thesolutionforDandthecorrespondingelectricfieldEas:

Intheabove,epsilonisthepermittivityofthemediumthroughwhichthewavepropagates.We
arepurelyintheworldofmathematicsnow.ThequantityFisnotphysical,andisoflittle
practicalvalue.Itissimplyanaidinperformingourmathematicalmanipulations.
Itturnsoutthatwaves(orelectromagneticenergy)cannotpropagateinawaveguidewhenboth
HzandEzareequaltozero.Hence,whatfieldconfigurationsthatareallowedwillbeclassified
aseitherTM(TransverseMagnetic,inwhichHz=0)andTE(TransverseElectric,inwhich
Ez=0).ThereasonthatwavescannotbeTEM(TransverseElectromagnetic,Hz=Ez=0)willbe
showntowardstheendofthisderivation.
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Toperformouranalysis,we'llassumethatEz=0(i.e.,wearelookingataTEmodeorfield
configuration).Inthiscase,workingthroughMaxwell'sequations,itcanbeshownthattheE
andHfieldscanbedeterminedfromthefollowingequations:

Therefore,ifwecanfindFz(thezcomponentofthevectorF),thenwecanfindtheEandH
fields.Intheaboveequation,kisthewavenumber.
WorkingthroughthemathofMaxwell'sEquations,itcanbeshownthatinasourcefreeregion,
thevectorpotentialFmustsatisfythevectorwaveequation:

[1]
Tobreakthisequationdown,wewilllookonlyatthezcomponentoftheaboveequation(that
is,Fz).Wewillalsoassumethatwearelookingatasinglefrequency,sothatthetime
dependenceisassumedtobeoftheformgivenby(wearenowusingphasorstoanalyzethe
equation):

Thentheequation[1]canbesimplifiedasfollows:

[2]
Tosolvethisequation,wewillusethetechniqueofseparationofvariables.Hereweassume
thatthefunctionFz(x,y,z)canbewrittenastheproductofthreefunctions,eachofasingle
variable.Thatis,weassumethat:
[3]
(Youmightask,howdoweknowthattheseparationofvariablesassumptionaboveisvalid?
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Wedon'twejustassumeitscorrect,andifitsolvesthedifferentialequationwhenwearedone
doingtheanalysisthentheassumptionisvalid).NowwepluginourassumptionforFz
(equation[3])intoequation[2],andweendupwith:

[4]
Intheaboveequation,theprimerepresentsthederivativewithrespecttothevariableinthe
equation(forinstance,Z'representsthederivativeoftheZfunctionwithrespecttoz).Wewill
breakupthevariablek^2intocomponents(again,justtomakeourmatheasier):

[5]
Usingequation[5]tobreakdownequation[4],wecanwrite:

[6]
Thereasonthattheequationsin[6]arevalidisbecausetheyareonlyfunctionsofindependent
variableshence,eachequationmustholdfor[5]tobetrueeverywhereinthewaveguide.
Solvingtheaboveequationsusingordinarydifferentialequationstheory,weget:

[7]
TheformofthesolutionintheaboveequationisdifferentforZ(z).Thereasonisthatboth
forms(thatforXandY,andthatforZ),arebothequallyvalidsolutionsforthedifferential
equationsinequation[6].However,thecomplexexponentialtypicallyrepresentstravelling
waves,andthe[real]sinusoidsrepresentstandingwaves.Hence,wechoosetheformsgivenin
[7]forthesolutions.Nomathrulesareviolatedhereagain,wearejustchoosingformsthatwill
makeouranalysiseasier.
Fornow,wecansetc5=0,becausewewanttoanalyzewavespropagatinginthe+zdirection.
Theanalysisisidenticalforwavespropagatinginthezdirection,sothisisfairlyarbitrary.The
solutionforFzcanbewrittenas:

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[8]
Ifyourememberanythingaboutdifferentialequations,youknowthereneedstobesome
boundaryconditionsappliedinordertodeterminetheconstants.Recallingourphysics,we
knowthatthetangentialElectricfieldsatanyperfectconductormustbezero(why?because
,soiftheconductivityapproachesinfinity(perfectconductor),thenifthetangential
Efieldisnotzerothentheinducedcurrentwouldbeinfinite).
Thetangentialfieldsmustbezero,soExmustbezerowheny=0andwheny=b(seeFigure1
above),nomatterwhatthevalueforyandzare.Inaddition,Eymustbezerowhenx=0and
whenx=a(independentofxandz).WewillcalculateEx:

Exisgivenbytheaboveequation.Theboundaryconditiongivenby
Ex(x,y=0,z)=0[9]
impliesthatc4mustbeequaltozero.Thisistheonlywaythatboundaryconditiongivenin[9]
willbetrueforallxandzpositions.Ifyoudon'tbelievethis,trytoshowthatitisincorrect.
Youwillquicklydeterminethatc4mustbezerofortheboundaryconditionin[9]tobesatisfied
everywhereitisrequired.
Next,thesecondboundarycondition,
Ex(x,y=b,z)=0[10]
impliessomethingveryunique.Theonlywayfortheconditionin[10]tobetrueforallvalues
ofxandzwhenevery=b,wemusthave:

Ifthisistobetrueeverywhere,c3couldbezero.However,ifc3iszero(andwehavealready
determinedthatc4iszero),thenallofthefieldswouldendupbeingzero,becausethefunction
Y(y)in[7]wouldbezeroeverywhere.Hence,c3cannotbezeroifwearelookingforanonzero
solution.Hence,theonlyalternativeisiftheaboveequationimpliesthat:

Thislastequationisfundamentaltounderstandingwaveguides.Itstatesthattheonlysolutions
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forY(y)functionmustendupbeingsinusoids,thatanintegernumberofmultiplesofahalf
wavelength.Thesearetheonlytypeoffunctionsthatsatisfythedifferentialequationin[6]and
therequiredboundaryconditions.Thisisanextremelyimportantconcept.
Ifweinvokeourothertwoboundaryconditions:
Ey(x=0,y,z)=0
Ey(x=a,y,z)=0
Then(usingidenticalreasoningtothatabove),wecandeterminethatc2=0andthat:

Thisstatementimpliesthattheonlyfunctionsofxthatsatisfythedifferentialequationandthe
requiredboundaryconditionsmustbeanintegermultipleofhalfsinusoidswithinthe
waveguide.
Combiningtheseresults,wecanwritethesolutionforFzas:

Intheabove,wehavecombinedtheremainingnonzeroconstantsc1,c3,andc6intoasingle
constant,A,forsimplicity.Wehavefoundthatonlycertaindistributions(orfield
configurations)willsatisfytherequireddifferentialequationsandtheboundaryconditions.
Eachofthesefieldconfigurationswillbeknownasamode.Becausewederivedtheresults
abovefortheTEcase,themodeswillbeknownasTEmn,wheremindicatesthenumberof
halfcyclevariationswithinthewaveguideforX(x),andnindicatesthenumberofhalfcycle
variationswithinthewaveguideforY(y).
Inthenextsection,we'llexplicitlywriteoutthefieldscorrespondingtothesemodes,discuss
whichmodesareallowable,andlookintotheTM(transversemagnetic)case.

Next:MoreAnalysisofWaveguideFields
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