WAVEGUIDES

Submitted to: Engr. Eriberto Hallarsis

Submitted by: Celi Liana A. Cruz Edniel A. Dejada

February 1, 2012

HISTORY

The first structure for guiding waves was proposed by J. J. Thomson in 1893, and was first experimentally tested by Oliver Lodge in 1894. The first mathematical analysis of electromagnetic waves in a metal cylinder was performed by Lord Rayleigh in 1897. For sound waves, Lord Rayleigh published a full mathematical analysis of propagation modes in his seminal work, The Theory of Sound. The study of dielectric waveguides began as early as the 1920s, by several people, most famous of which are Rayleigh, Sommerfeld and Debye. Optical fiber began to receive special attention in the 1960s due to its importance to the communications industry.

WAVEGUIDES Waveguide is a device that constrains or guides the propagation of electromagnetic waves along a path defined by the physical construction of the guide. It can be used to transmit power or signals in the form of waves while minimizing power loss.

Most waveguides are made of aluminum, brass or copper. Waveguides are hollow metal pipes and may have either circular or rectangular cross sections. Common waveguide shapes are rectangular, circular, and ridged. Waveguide has a number of advantages over coax, microstrip and stripline. It is completely shielded,it can transmit extremely high peak powers and it has very low loss at microwave frequencies. Most waveguides are of the rectangular variety. It is the size of the waveguide that determines its operating frequency range.

The width of the waveguide is designated a, and the height is designated b. The frequency of operation is determined by the a dimension. This dimension is usually made equal to one-half the wavelength at the lowest frequency of operation. This frequency is known as the waveguide cutoff frequency. At the cutoff frequency and below, the waveguide will not transmit energy. At frequencies above the cutoff frequency, the waveguide will propagate electromagnetic energy. The waveguide is essentially a high- pass filter with a cut off frequency equal to

fco = 3002a

Problem: A waveguide has an a width of 0.8 in. What is the cutoff?

PROPAGATION MODES IN WAVEGUIDE

The pattern of the electromagnetic fields within a waveguide takes many forms. Each form is called an operating mode. Either the H or E field must be perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave. Modes are classified as either transverse electric (TE) or transverse magnetic (TM). TE mode - the E field exists across the guide and no E lines extend lengthwise along the guide. TM mode the H lines form loops in planes perpendicular to the walls of the guide, and no part of an H line is lengthwise along the guide.

Waveguide (TE) transverse electric and (TM) transverse magnetic modes.

All electromagnetic waves consist of electric and magnetic fields propagating in the same direction of travel, but perpendicular to each other. Along the length of a normal transmission line, both electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular (transverse) to the direction of wave travel. This is known as the principal mode, or TEM (Transverse Electric and Magnetic) mode. This mode of wave propagation can exist only where there are two conductors, and it is the dominant mode of wave propagation where the cross-sectional dimensions of the transmission line are small compared to the wavelength of the signal.

At microwave signal frequencies (between 100 MHz and 300 GHz), twoconductor transmission lines of any substantial length operating in standard TEM mode become impractical. Lines small enough in cross-sectional dimension to maintain TEM mode signal propagation for microwave signals tend to have low voltage ratings, and suffer from large, parasitic power losses due to conductor skin and dielectric effects. Fortunately, though, at these short wavelengths there exist other modes of propagation that are not as lossy, if a

conductive tube is used rather than two parallel conductors. It is at these high frequencies that waveguides become practical. The mode with the lowest cutoff frequency is termed the dominant mode of the guide. It is usual to choose the size of the guide such that only this one mode can exist in the frequency band of operation. In rectangular and circular (hollow pipe) waveguides, the dominant modes are designated the TE1,0 mode and TE1,1 modes respectively. The first number indicates the number of half-wave patterns of transverse lines that exists along the short dimension of the guide through the center of the cross-section . The second number indicates the number of transverse half-wave patterns that exist along the long dimension of the guide through the center of the cross-section.

TE1,0 mode of a rectangular hollow metallic waveguide.

TE1,1 mode of a circular hollow metallic waveguide

Applications Waveguides can be constructed to carry waves over a wide portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, but are especially useful in the microwave and optical frequency ranges. Waveguides are used for transferring both power and communication signals, usually for short distances. The main advantage of waveguides in comparison to other transmission lines is in high power applications. The uses of waveguides for transmitting signals were known even before the term was coined. The phenomenon of sound waves guided through a taut wire have been known for a long time, as well as sound through a hollow pipe such as a cave or medical stethoscope. Other uses of waveguides are in transmitting power between the components of a system such as radio, radar or optical devices. Waveguides are the fundamental principle of guided wave testing (GWT), one of the many methods of nondestructive evaluation. Specific examples: Optical fibers transmit light and signals for long distances and with a high signal rate. In a microwave oven a waveguide leads power from the magnetron where waves are formed to the cooking chamber. In a radar, a waveguide leads waves to the antenna, where their impedance needs to be matched for efficient power transmission. A waveguide called stripline can be created on a printed circuit board, and is used to transmit microwave signals on the board. This type of waveguide is very cheap to manufacture and has small dimensions which fit inside printed circuit boards. Waveguides are used in scientific instruments to measure optical, acoustic and elastic properties of materials and objects. The waveguide can be put in contact with the specimen (as in a Medical ultrasonography), in which case the waveguide ensures that the power of the testing wave is conserved, or the specimen may be put inside the waveguide (as in a dielectric constant measurement), so that smaller objects can be tested and the accuracy is better.