Analytical, numerical, and experimental investigation of guided waves on a periodically strip-loaded dielectric slab

The electromagnetic waves guided by a periodically strip-loaded dielectric slab were investigated. The determinantal equation was obtained by assuming that the strips are narrow as compared to all other linear dimensions. Numerical results involving different combinations of the linear and dielectric parameters are presented in terms of diagrams. The amplitudes of the space harmonics were computed and are discussed in connection with the characteristic phenomena such as radiation and coupling. In particular, the relations between the attenuation of the guided waves and the space-harmonic amplitudes are pointed out. As an interesting phenomenon, real solutions have been found to occur in the complex-wave region and this new result has been explained in the light of the space-harmonic amplitudes. The numerical results in the backward-radiation region have been verified experimentally by two different methods: by measuring the phase and amplitude variation in the near field and by calculation from radiation patterns. In both cases, good agreement with the theoretical results has been obtained.