AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY

Microwaves Faculty of Engineering

Laboratory ECE Department
𝝏𝝂 𝑭𝝁𝝂 = 𝝁𝟎 𝑱𝝁

ECE 331 – Fall 2024 Engineering Electromagnetics Dr. Angie El-Damak

Dr. Huessin Kotb

Exp. 5
Part 1 Normal Wave Incidence
1. Theory:
When a wave is propagating in a medium and it encounters a different medium, part of the
wave is transmitted into the new medium and the rest of the wave is reflected into the old
medium again. In this lab, we study only the normal incidence case. The incident wave is normal
to the boundary interface between the two mediums and both the transmitted and reflected
wave are parallel to the incident wave.

Fig. 1: A plane wave incident on boundary with the reflected and transmitted waves’ directions as
illustrated [1]
The incident wave can be expressed in the phasor form as:
Ei1 = ax E e-jk1z
𝐸 𝐸
Hi1 = (az x ax) e-jk1z = ay e-jk1z
1 1
And the reflected wave can be expressed as:
Er1 = ax  E e jkz
𝐸 𝐸
Hr1 = (-az x ax) e jk1z = - ay  e jk1z
1 1

[1] William H. Hayt, “Engineering Electromagnetics,” 8th edition

, where  is the reflection coefficient.
The transmitted wave is expressed as:
Et2 = ax TE e-jk2z
𝐸 𝐸
Hi1 = (az x ax) T e-jk2z = ay T e-jk2z
2 2

, where T is the transmission coefficient.

In order to obtain expressions for the reflection and transmission coefficients, we study
the wave at the boundary (z=0), and they were deduced to be as follows:
𝜂2 − 𝜂1
Γ= = |Γ|𝑒 𝑗𝜙
𝜂2 + 𝜂1
2𝜂2
T= = |𝑇|𝑒 𝑗𝜙
𝜂2 +𝜂1
For lossless mediums, both  and T are real values. For lossy mediums,  and T may be
complex values.  and T can also be related in the case of normal incidence by the
following expression:
T=1+
If we studied the 1st medium, we find that the presence of incident and reflected waves
simultaneously creates a standing wave pattern. We can then define the Standing Wave
Ratio (SWR), which is the ratio between the maximum amplitude and the minimum
amplitude of the field in medium 1. The SWR can be expressed as:
|𝑬𝟏 |𝑚𝑎𝑥 1 + |Γ|
𝑆𝑊𝑅 = =
|𝑬𝟏 |𝑚𝑖𝑛 1 − |Γ|
There is no standing wave in medium 2 as there the wave is travelling in one direction
only.
Lastly, we study the power flow of the wave when S1i is the average power of the
incident wave, S1r is the average power of the reflected wave, and S2 is the average
power of the transmitted wave. We find that the power flow must obey the power
conservation law, such that:
S1i = S1r + S2
The average reflected power can be calculated by:
S1r = ||2 S1i
And the average transmitted power can be calculated from the law of power
conservation to be:

S2 = (1 - ||2) S1i

For further reading, return to chapter 8 in “Fundamentals of applied electromagnetics”
7th edition, and chapter 12 in “Engineering electromagnetics” 8 th edition.
2. Hand Analysis:
A 1 GHz plane wave is propagating in the +ve z direction in medium 1. At z=0, it
impinges normally on medium 2. If the electric field amplitude was 10 V/m in the +ve x-
direction, determine:
a) The reflection and the transmission coefficients
b) The standing wave ratio
c) The percentage of the incident power that was reflected at the boundary
d) The percentage of the incident power that was transmitted into medium 2
For each of the following cases:
i) 1 = 1, 2 = 5
ii) 1 = 5, 2 = 3
iii) 1 = 1, 2 = 1,  = 5x107 S/m
iv) 1 = 1, 2 = 2.55,  = 10-4 S/m
3. Simulation:
Make sure that java is installed on your device.
Part 1: Lossless medium
• Start the attached file Module 8.3
• Set the Polarization to “//”
• Set the angle of incidence to 0°
• Input 1, and 2 for (i) and (ii) from the previous section
• Check that the electric field reflection and transmission coefficients match the
ones calculated in the previous section
• Check that the reflectivity and transmittivity match the power percentages
calculated in the previous section
• Take screenshots of the standing wave pattern for each case and place in a neat
table.

Part 2: Lossy medium

• Start the attached file Module 8.4

• Set the Polarization to “//”
• Set the angle of incidence to 0°
• Input 1, 2, and  for (iii) and (iv) from the previous section
NOTE: numbers are written in the scientific e notation. Example:
5x107=5e7)
• Check that the electric field reflection and transmission coefficients match the
ones calculated in the previous section
• Check that the reflectivity and transmittivity match the power percentages
calculated in the previous section
• Take screenshots of the standing wave pattern for each case and place in a neat
table.
 Part 2: Oblique Wave Incidence

1. Theory:
In lab 2, we have studied plane wave falling normally on a boundary. In this lab, we are
studying when the wave is propagating in a general direction not normal on the
boundary. For the sake of simplicity, we are only studying two-directional wave
propagation direction.

Fig. 1: Ray representation of oblique incidence [1]

Let us consider the wave propagation in the xz-plane. We define the wave propagation
constant as:
k = kx ax + kz az
, where the electric field is expressed as:
E = E cos( ωt - k.r )
And r is the position vector of the wave expressed as:
r = x ax + z az
k.r = kx x + kz z
E = E cos( ωt - kx x - kz z)
The angle of incidence (θi) which is the angle between the normal on the interface and
the incident field can be calculated as follows:

𝑘𝑥
𝜃𝑖 = tan−1
𝑘𝑧
The relation between the angle of reflection and transmission with the angle of
incidence can be found through Snell’s laws:
θi = θr (Snell’s law of reflection)
2sin θi = 1sin θt (Snell’s law of refraction)
Now we need to define the polarization of the electric field compared to the direction of
wave propagation. In the case that wave propagation is in the xz-plane and the electric
field is the y-direction, this is called perpendicular polarization. If the electric field lies in
the xz-plane then this is called parallel polarization.

(a) (b)
Fig. 2: a) perpendicular polarization b) parallel polarization [1]

The expressions for the reflection and transmission coefficients for each case can be found in
the following table:

Now we need to define some important incidence angles. The first angle we need to
define is Brewster angle (θB). Brewster angle is the incidence angle at which all the
incident wave is transmitted into medium 2 with no reflection. Since in our studies we
focus on non-magnetic materials, we find that for perpendicular polarization, the
Brewster angle is undefined. In case of parallel polarization, the Brewster angle is
expressed as:
𝜀2
𝜃𝐵|| = tan−1 √
𝜀1
 The second angle we need to define is the critical reflection angle (θc), which is the
incidence angle after which any incident wave is totally reflected with no wave
transmitted in medium 2. This angle is only definable when 2 < 1 and it can be
calculated as follows:
𝜀2
𝜃𝑐 = sin−1 √
𝜀1
For further reading, return to chapter 8 in “Fundamentals of applied electromagnetics”
7th edition, and chapter 12 in “Engineering electromagnetics” 8th edition.

2. Hand Analysis:
A 1 GHz plane wave is propagating in medium 1. The expression of the electric field is
𝑬= 𝒙 ̂ 5 cos( 𝜔𝑡 − 2𝑥 − 5𝑧) - 𝒛̂ 2 cos (𝜔𝑡 − 2𝑥 − 5𝑧)
Determine:
a) Is the electric field parallel or perpendicular polarization?
b) The reflection and transmission coefficients
c) Find the Brewster angle and the critical angle when valid
d) The percentage of the incident power that was reflected at the boundary
e) The percentage of the incident power that was transmitted into medium 2

For each of the following cases:

i. 1 = 1, 2= 5
ii. 1 = 6, 2 = 2

3. Simulation:
Ensure that java is installed on your device
• Start the attached file Module 8.3
• Set 1 = 1, 2= 5
• Set the incidence angle and polarization as calculated in the previous section
• Screenshot the resulting standing wave pattern and compare it with the standing
wave pattern at θ=65.9052° (you need to use both scroll bars beneath the angle
of incidence to be able to get the exact angle)
• Screenshot the vector diagrams for each case and place your results in a neat
table
• Set 1 = 6, 2= 2
• Set the incidence angle and polarization as calculated in the previous section
• Screenshot the resulting standing wave pattern and compare it with the standing
wave pattern at θ= 30°, 35.2644°, 60°
• Screenshot the vector diagrams for each case and place your results in a neat
table.