PAPER

DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

Development of the Virtual Lab Module for

Understanding the Concepts of Electric and
Magnetic Field Patterns in Rectangular
Waveguides and Cavities
http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v8i3.2113

Tannu Gupta, Sudha Madhuri A, Prachi, M Jaleel Akhtar and K Vaibhav Srivastava
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India

Abstract—A LabVIEW based general purposed module to The electromagnetic field theory and microwave
understand and visualize the electromagnetic field patterns engineering usually deal with the high frequency
inside commonly used microwave devices is developed. The analysis, where the dimensions of the object or wire are
module provides both the electric and magnetic field pat- comparable to the operating wavelength. The electric and
terns for any arbitrary mode configuration inside the rec- magnetic field patterns in various structures at microwave
tangular waveguide and the cavity, which are the micro- frequencies become quite relevant in order to predict the
wave devices mostly being taught at undergraduate levels in behavior of various devices at these frequencies, and
the electrical engineering. The developed module helps the hence studying the electric and magnetic field patterns,
user in gaining a better and deeper understanding of the also known as modes, becomes important. These fields
electric and magnetic field patterns and modes inside the are vector quantities, and are usually analyzed using
guiding and closed structures. advanced calculus concepts. In the developed module, the
electric and magnetic fields have been represented in
Index Terms—Electromagnetic field patterns, modes in vector form with arrows indicating both magnitude and
rectangular waveguides, virtual microwave laboratory, direction, so that the user can make a one to one
visualization modules for engineering education. correspondence with the fields and their equations.
I. INTRODUCTION The developed module is also a supplement to lab
work, which is obviously quite complicated for
The modern day tools of today’s Electrical Engineer electromagnetic field quantities. The proposed interactive
such as the wireless communications, RF and Microwave simulations seem to be obviously more interesting
Circuits, etc. require engineering students to have deeper compared to both the classroom and the lab work,
understanding of the concepts related to the although they are no substitute for real experiments. The
electromagnetic theory and microwave techniques. But, flexibility in varying different parameters and viewing
the courses in these areas are today becoming less the field patterns gives the user enough knowledge to
interesting to students of electrical engineering. The extend his understanding to other microwave devices and
reason behind the lack of interest stems from the fact that more complicated structures. Finally, these tools can be
these courses are quite involved, and require deeper remotely accessed without requiring any complicated
understanding of advanced mathematical concepts. The hardware at the user end, and hence we can target the
reason for the lesser interest shown by students is much wider section of the society in minimum time
probably also due to the conventional way these courses frame requiring least resources.
are being taught in undergraduate classes. Now, with the The main aim of this work is to develop visualizations
advent of modern visualization tools, these courses can simulation tools for understanding various concepts of
be made quite interesting and appealing to students, electromagnetics and microwave engineering by students
which would go a long way in popularizing the at remote places. It may be mentioned here that the
electromagnetics and microwaves education to young engineering education in India is increasing at a very fast
undergraduates. The development of Virtual RF and rate, and it is continuously becoming quite difficult for all
Microwave Laboratory at the Indian Institute of these new engineering colleges to have expertise in
Technology, Kanpur is the first step in this direction, specialized areas such as the electromagnetic theory and
where the main aim is to help the students in microwave engineering. The development of the
understanding the basic concepts of electromagnetic field proposed simulation tools is mainly targeted at these
theory and microwave engineering using a number of students and groups, who can access and perform the
developed visualization modules virtual experiments from their remote places.
(http://www.iitk.ac.in/mimt_lab/vlab/index.php?pg=wave
guide/aim&usr=&enc=). The developed virtual lab is It may be noted that the significance of graphical aid
aimed at assisting the student through simulation and tools and the virtual lab development in imparting the
virtual experiments using a number of microwave engineering education has recently been reported by few
devices. groups such as [1]. It has also been reported that the
LabVIEW is one of the most versatile graphical tools for

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

understanding some concepts in the field of electrical is conveyed by means of transverse components of the
engineering [2]. The virtual lab concept has recently been electric and magnetic fields governed by Maxwell’s
employed in the field of microwaves and Antennas, equations along with the appropriate boundary
where the students can remotely access the radio conditions. Both simple and higher order field patterns of
telescope using custom made receivers [3]. However, to the rectangular waveguides are analyzed here using the
the best of our knowledge, the visualization tools or the simple Cartesian co-ordinate system. However, the
virtual experiments have till now not been developed to overall procedure can be well extended to the analysis of
visualize the electromagnetic field patterns inside various field arrangements in circular waveguides.
structures such as rectangular waveguides and cavities at
microwave frequencies. The understanding of these field
patterns, and to know their significance, is obviously the
first and the foremost step in order to gain deep
knowledge about the operation of various RF and
microwave structures.
In the present work, a general purpose simulation
module using LabVIEW is developed to visualize and
understand various electromagnetic field patterns inside a
rectangular waveguide and the microwave cavity Figure 1. A simple rectangular waveguide
resonator. The overall paper is organized as follows. First
of all, the basic theoretical concepts about the As the paper deals with the field patterns of guided
electromagnetics, microwaves, rectangular waveguides, electromagnetic waves, a brief summary of the deduction
cavity resonators etc., which are required for the of the electromagnetic field pattern beginning from the
development of proposed module, are briefly discussed in preliminary wave equation follows. The four Maxwell’s
section II. In section III, a brief introduction of the virtual equations for electromagnetic waves in their differential
simulation module is presented. The main theme of the form have gradient and curl functions, which lead to the
presented work, which is the development of appropriate wave equation where A stands for either electric or
virtual lab modules, is described in detail in sections IV magnetic field [4].
and V. Finally, some concluding remarks are provided.
 2   2   A  0 ….. Wave Equation (1)
II. THEORY where,
2 2
A. Electromagnetic fields and the Rectangular ω με = k c
Waveguide
 2 = Laplacian operator
Electromagnetic fields propagate in a waveguide
A = Electric or Magnetic field
forming electric and magnetic field patterns. The
waveguide imposes boundary conditions on the wave ω = operating frequency of the waveguide
forming TE (Transverse Electric) and TM (Transverse μ = permeability of the medium
Magnetic) mode patterns in the waveguide. These electric ε = permittivity of the medium
and magnetic fields patterns vary with both time and
space. The propagation of the electromagnetic wave k c = wave number of the guide corresponding
inside the waveguide is governed by the continuous to the cutoff frequency.
exchange of energy between the electric and magnetic The wave Equation described in (1) is the
fields. The curl operation on electric field produces a characteristic equation describing the Electric field
time varying magnetic field, and in the same way curl of 2
(Magnetic field) in a linear system, where k c is the Eigen
the magnetic field produces time varying electric field
sustaining the energy required for propagation. value of the electric field system. These Eigen values are
discrete and are represented by integer values of ‘m’ and
In free space and the conventional two conductor lines,
‘n’ and give the fundamental mode of operation of the
usually the most basic field pattern, widely known as
waveguide. The waveguide acts like a high pass filter
TEM (Transverse-Electric-Magnetic) mode, prevails
which cuts off wave propagation below the cut off
where both the electric and magnetic fields are
frequency, above which it behaves like a transmission
perpendicular to the direction of propagation. However,
line. The electric and magnetic fields are usually time and
the waveguides, which are basically hollow metal pipes
space dependent described by
of either rectangular or circular cross-section, do not
support the basic TEM mode because of the presence of E= E0 e− j( ωt + βz )
.... (2)
only one conductor and hence the fields are arranged in − j ( ωt+ βz)
either TE (Transverse Electric) or TM (Transverse H= H 0 e … (3)
Magnetic) modes. These TE(TM) modes have zero with the cut-off frequency as
electric (magnetic) fields in the direction of propagation.
The waveguides are quite important class of devices
for electromagnetic energy transfer at microwave
frequencies specifically for high power applications. The (4)
electric and magnetic field patterns are quite well For m=1 and n=0, the TE10 mode would exist inside
behaved in a waveguide, and hence their detailed study the structure. It is the simplest realizable mode with the
provides insight into the wide variety of patterns formed least possible cut off frequency in a rectangular
by guided electromagnetic waves. The energy in this case waveguide for a > b. It is also called as the dominant

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

mode. Other higher order field modes can be formed by

the combination of different integer values ‘m’ and ‘n’,
with each of them pertaining to their own cut off
frequency and a unique field pattern. The rectangular
waveguide is one of the most basic structures being
taught at the undergraduate level in the electromagnetics
course, and the TE10 mode is the commonly used mode in
rectangular waveguides. An understanding of modes and
field patterns in waveguides is, therefore, fundamental
and is a prerequisite for the analysis of more advanced
components in the field of RF and Microwave
Engineering.
Figure 2. Rectangular waveguide cavity
B. Rectangular Waveguide Resonant Cavities
The resonant cavity is an energy storage device and is
capable of maintaining oscillations of selective
frequencies. A rectangular(circular) waveguide resonator
is formed by shorting the rectangular(circular) waveguide
at its open ends as shown in Fig. 2, thus forming a
confined box and delivering electromagnetic energy into
the cavity using suitable excitation methods.
In a resonant cavity, there is continuous exchange
between the electric and magnetic energies of the wave Figure 3. A sample inserted through a hole in a resonator [5]
confined inside the cavity similar to the LC parallel
resonant circuit, where the inductors and capacitors are coupling is used on either sides of the end plate to
present. Hence, the waveguide resonant cavity at high efficiently excite the particular TE10p mode. The real and
frequencies can also be represented by an equivalent LC imaginary parts of the complex permittivity are
resonant circuit with distributed inductance and calculated using the formulas given below [5]:
capacitance [4]. The capacitance and the inductance in
the above circuit select the frequency of resonance. Vc ( f c  f s )
 r'   1 (6)
The cavities satisfy the Laplace’s equations in a similar 2 * Vs * f s
way as waveguides, and hence have eigen values which Vc 1 1
form their characteristic equations similar to the  r''  (  ) . (7)
rectangular waveguides. These eigen values form the 4 * V s Q s Qc
fundamental mode frequencies or the resonant where, f s :Resonant frequency of the cavity loaded
frequencies of the cavity, which in turn depend on the with the sample (Hz)
dimensions of the cavity box as given by (5), where ’m’,
’n’ and ‘p’ give the discrete eigen values representing
fc :Resonant frequency of the empty cavity (Hz)
different mode patterns in the cavity. Vc :Volume of the empty cavity
Vs :Volume of the cavity loaded with sample
Qc :Quality factor of the empty cavity
(5)
Qs :Quality factor of the loaded cavity.
A. Measurement of Dielectric Constant using Cavity
The real part of the permittivity is related to the energy
Perturbation Method in Cavity Resonators
storage, while the imaginary part usually provides idea
The dielectric properties of materials can be measured about the losses present in the material.
using the rectangular waveguide cavity by perturbation It may be mentioned here that similar to the
technique, where the test sample is inserted into the
procedure described above, a rectangular waveguide
designed cavity as shown in Fig. 3 in order to find the
change in the quality factor and the resonance frequency. cavity can be designed to measure the permeability of a
The resonant frequency of the cavity, which depends on material, where the mode selection should be in such a
its electrical and physical parameters, changes when the way that the test specimen is inserted at the position of
sample is inserted in the cavity. Likewise, the quality maximum magnetic field.
factor, being the ratio of the stored energy to the energy
dissipated in the cavity, mainly depends on the losses III. DEVELOPMENT OF VIRTUAL SIMULATION TOOLS
present inside the cavity. Hence, the change in the quality A. RF and Microwave Virtual lab at Indian Institute of
factor of the cavity after insertion of the sample mainly Technology-Kanpur
provides an idea about the losses present inside the
sample, with its value decreasing for lossy samples. The RF and microwave virtual lab at Indian Institute of
Technology Kanpur is a distance learning lab where the
The mode preferred in this experiment is the TE10p
simulations and experiments most basic to undergraduate
mode with p being odd, where the odd value of p ensures engineering students in the field of RF, Microwaves and
that the electric field is maximum at the position where
electromagnetics are under development as depicted in
the sample has been inserted, which is advantageous to Fig. 4.
get maximum perturbation for dielectric samples. The iris

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

(http://www.iitk.ac.in/mimt_lab/vlab/index.php)

Figure 4. RF and Microwave characterization Lab by IIT-Kanpur

This initiative aims at explaining the basic theoretical

Figure 5. Program flow of the rectangular waveguide
and experimental aspects of RF and Microwave
Engineering to students in a non-conventional way using
virtual simulation tools. The developed modules in the
framework of this program usually employ the
transmission lines, and some basic RF components along
with the appropriate mathematical tools. The present
paper mainly deals with the study of field patterns of
various modes in waveguides, and measurement of
dielectric properties using the rectangular cavity, which
are listed on the web site of our Virtual Lab site.
A. National Instruments LabVIEW
The LabVIEW [6] is an ideal tool to develop user
friendly simulation modules for various science and
engineering applications. It has two main interfacing
windows, the front panel and the block diagram. The
front panel is where user accessible controls and display
panels are designed for input and output data viewing.
The block diagram on the other hand is used to create the
arithmetic and logical steps in the program flow utilizing Figure 6. Front panel of the rectangular waveguide showing the E field
the powerful built in functions. The LabVIEW built in pattern of TM23 mode
function are available in the form of pallets, which form
the basic building for higher level programming. The The user interface for viewing the field patterns inside
pallets in the front panel are wired within the block the rectangular waveguide is shown in Fig. 6, where
diagram to complete the data flow from input front panel various annotations are as follows:
via block diagram back to the output to be viewed at the A. Select TE/TM
front panel again. The LabVIEW runtime engine B. Select Electric/Magnetic Field
available from the NI website is free of cost and can be
C. Enter mode number m and n
used to run the VI files which are in executable format
[6]. In the present work, it is always ensured that the exe D. Field pattern in the xy plane on picture box1
file of the module is developed for each case, which can E. Field pattern in the xz plane on picture box 2
be executed using the LabVIEW runtime engine. F. Field pattern in the yz plane on picture box 3

IV. VISUALIZATION MODULE FOR RECTANGULAR Here x is along the width, y is along the height and z is
the direction of propagation of the wave. By keeping any
WAVEGUIDES two of the three variables constant from A, B and C, the
A. The module to generate Electric and Magnetic Fields variation with respect to the third variable can be studied.
in the Rectangular Waveguide B. Brief description of the developed module by consid-
The program flow for the VI, which generates the ering the field patterns of the TE10 mode
electric and magnetic field patterns for a mode selected The electric field pattern of the dominant TE10 mode
by the user, is shown in Fig.5. The program flow has along the cross-section of the rectangular waveguide as
three main steps as shown in this figure in order to observed in the developed LabVIEW module is shown in
generate the appropriate field patterns for the particular Fig. 7.
mode

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

Figure 8. Figure The arrow electric field pattern for TE10 mode in the yz
Figure 7. The arrow electric field pattern for TE10 mode in the xy plane plane at a constant x value
at a constant z value
It can be observed from Fig. 8 that the direction of the
The field lines appearing in Fig. 7 can be understood electric field arrow for TE10 mode is along the y axis in
using the following guidelines: the yz plane. Also, n=0 implies that there is no variation
I. The strength and the direction of the field w.r.t. of the electric field along y- direction. It is also to be
position along the xy plane is represented by ar- noted that the field density is higher in the vicinity of
rows, the higher the electric field magnitude the z=π/2β and z=3π/2β as indicated by the red color and the
more prominent the arrow size. In Fig 7, the elec- field strength diminishes (as seen by the decrease in the
tric field strength is maximum at the center and arrow size) as we move towards z=0, z=π/β and z=2π/β,
goes to zero along the boundary. where they finally become zero. These kinds of behavior
of the field lines can be understood from the expression
II. The continuity condition at the boundary y=0 and of electric field. For the yz plane, the electric field is
y=b of the conductor waveguide shows the normal evaluated for x=a/2, and the expression is given by:
component of the field strength along the y axes.
III. The tangential electric field goes to zero at x=0
. (10)
and x=a, which is the boundary of the conductor
Thus the field exists in -y direction for z<π/β and in +y
waveguide representing side walls.
direction for z> π/β. This field is maximum at z=π/2β,
IV. The mode pattern of the TE10 mode along the xy
3π/2β, and it becomes zero at z=0 , z= π/β and z= 2π/β.
plane shows that the electric field exists only in
negative y direction and there is one half wave- The electric field pattern for the TE10 mode along xz
length variation along the x axis, while the half plane is shown in Fig. 9.
wavelength variation along the y axis is zero; For
n=0 at time t=0 the only nonzero component of the
electric field is the y component, which is given
by: [4]

(8)
For xy plane, the electric field is evaluated for
z=π/2β. Hence the expression for the nonzero elec-
tric field component can be modified as:

. (9)
The ‘sine’ variation along the x axis in Fig. 7 is Figure 9. The electric field pattern for TE10 mode in the XZ plane
highlighted by drawing a sine curve (yellow in
The dot pattern in this figure corresponding to the xz
color). This variation shows that at any constant plane shows that the electric field pattern is perpendicular
‘y’ position, the magnitude of the field starts in- to this plane. The strength of the field is higher near
creasing from zero and reaches its maximum posi- x=a/2 and z= π/2β (as indicated by the red color) and
tion at centre (x=a/2) as indicated by the red color. field strength diminishes as we move towards z=0, z= π/β
Afterwards, the field strength starts diminishing and z= 2π/β along the z direction, and towards x=0 and
(as seen by the decrease in the arrow size) as we x=a along the x direction.
move away from the center, and finally the electric The magnetic field pattern for the TE10 mode along the
field again becomes zero for x=a. three planes is shown in Fig. 10. It can be observed from
this figure that the magnetic field lies along the x axis in
The electric field pattern along the yz plane at x=a/2 is xy plane and along z axis in yz plane.
shown in Fig. 8. The magnetic field has only x and z components, and it
has a circular pattern in the xz plane as shown by the
closed circular arrows.

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

The expression of the electric field in xy plane at

z=π/2β, for m=1 & n=1is given by [4]:

(11)
From the field expressions, it can be seen that the
electric field has only y component at y=0, and its value
is higher in the vicinity of x=a/2. Similarly, the field has
only Ex component at x=0, and its strength is higher in
the vicinity of y=b/2. These findings match with the plot
shown in Fig. 11.

Figure 10. FiMagnetic field pattern along the three planes for the TE10
mode

It can be easily observed from Figs. 7-10 that the

developed module can provide the electric and magnetic
field pattern of the dominant mode in all the three
possible planes inside the rectangular waveguide in a
very simple manner.
C. Brief description of the developed module by consid-
ering the field patterns of the TE11 mode
The electric field pattern of dominant TE11 mode along
the cross-section of the rectangular waveguide as
observed in the developed LabVIEW module is shown in
Fig. 11.

Figure 12. The electric field pattern for TE11 mode in the xz and yz
planes

II.Fig.12. shows the electric field pattern for the TE11 mode
in yz and xz planes. The dot pattern in these two
planes indicates that the electric field is perpendicu-
lar to both planes. The field strength in the xz plane
is higher near x=a/2, while in the yz plane it is
maximum at y=b/2.
III. The tangential electric field is zero at the boundaries
Figure 11. The arrow electric field pattern for TE11 mode in the xy as indicated by absence of any field near the bounda-
plane at constant z value ries of the xz and yz planes in Fig.12.
Following points should be noted in order to
understand the arrow electric field pattern of the higher
order mode shown for TE11 mode in this section:
I. It can be seen from Fig. 11 that the field lines lie in
the xy plane. In the vicinity of x=0, the field lines are
mostly along +x direction as indicated by the arrows
pointing towards right in direction of positive x axis.
This field is maximum at y=b/2 (as indicated by the
red color) and diminishes as we move towards y=0
and y=b (as indicated by decreasing arrow sizes). In
the vicinity of x=a/2, the field is along the –y direc-
tion for y<b/2 indicated by arrows pointing down-
wards, and it is along the +y direction for y>b/2 indi-
cated by arrows pointing upwards.
Figure 13. The magnetic field pattern along the three planes for the
TE11 mode

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

IV. The generated magnetic field pattern for the TE11

mode is shown in Fig.13. It can be seen that the field
follows circular loop patterns in the xz and yz planes.
The field pattern in the 3 planes indicates presence of
all three components of the magnetic field for this
mode.
It may be noted here that although explanations in this
section are mostly related to the TE11 mode, but the
similar concept can be used to understand the field
patterns of any higher order mode having more than one
nonzero electric and magnetic field components.
D. Understanding the field pattern for any Arbitrary
Higher Order Mode
The electric field pattern of the dominant mode is quite Figure 14. TM21 Magnetic field pattern along x axis
easy to plot and visualize because of the presence of only
one component as explained in section IV-B. However,
the plot of the field pattern for any higher order mode is
not very straight forward due to the presence of more
than one electric/magnetic field components as seen in
section IV-C. The aim of this section is to explain in
detail the procedure adopted in the developed module to
obtain the field pattern for any arbitrary higher order
mode.
The complete field pattern for any higher order mode
in the developed module is obtained by linear
superposition of the field patterns in different directions.
For example, the field pattern along the xy plane for any
arbitrary mode is obtained by first computing the
individual ‘x’ and ‘y’ components of the field, and then
performing vector addition of these components. The
overall process of formation of these field patterns in our Figure 15. TM21 Magnetic field pattern along y axis
module is explained here by considering a typical
example of the magnetic field pattern for the TM21 mode
is shown in Fig. 16.
  
H xy  H x  H y along the XY plane.
It can be observed from Figs. 14 and 15 that the
magnetic field pattern for this mode shows two half
wavelength variation along the x axis representing
‘m=2’ (according to sin(2πx/a)), and single half
wavelength variation along the y axis representing ‘n=1’
(according to cos(πy/b)). The magnetic field pattern along
the x axis (y axis) is formed by the simultaneous
multiplication of sine (cosine) variation in x direction,
and cosine (sine) variation in y direction obeying the
conventional equations for the fields inside the
rectangular waveguide. The module developed in this Figure 16. TM21 Magnetic field pattern along XY plane
work to plot and visualize the field component for any
arbitrary mode is based on first computing the individual E. Current distribution in a rectangular waveguide
components of that particular mode similar to the A module is also developed here to visualize the
procedure shown in Figs. 14 and 15. surface current distribution on different walls of the
The actual electric (magnetic) field component of the rectangular waveguide. The current flows along the walls
particular mode is obtained by taking the vector addition of the waveguide because of the magnetic field, as by
of all the individual electric (magnetic) field components. Ampere’s law the curl of the magnetic field produces a
This process of vector addition for the TM 21 mode is current .An idea about the surface current distribution on
shown clearly in Fig. 16, where the magnetic field any wall helps us in analyzing the areas on the
plot is obtained by the superposition of results obtained in waveguide, where, e.g., slots can be cut to insert some
Fig. 14 and 15. measuring probes with minimum power loss.
The procedure explained in this section obviously helps For a general TEmn mode, the surface current density is
in understanding how the higher mode patterns are evaluated in the yz plane at x=0 and xz plane at y=b. The
formed, which are otherwise quite difficult to be respective surface current density expressions can be
understood and visualized. derived to have following expressions [4]:

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

yz plane
J =- )ay +

az (12)
xz plane
J = (-1)n
[

)ax +

az] (13)
For TE10 mode, the surface current density exists along
the y direction for yz plane. For xz plane, at z=0 Jz=0 and
J is along the -x direction for x<a/2, and along the +x
direction for x>a/2 following cosine distribution. For
z=π/2β, 3π/2β Jx is zero (since cos(βz)=0) and J is in +z
direction for z= π/2β and –z direction for z= 3π/2β Figure 18. Front panel of the rectangular cavity showing the E field
(according to sin(βz) variation). This can also be seen pattern of TE101 mode
from the surface current density pattern in Fig.17.
C. Enter mode number m, n and p.
D. Field pattern in xy plane on picture box1
E. Field pattern in xz plane on picture box 2
F. Field pattern in yz plane on picture box 3
G. Indicator for the value of x, y and z at which the
fields and the surface current density is plotted
in YZ, XZ and XY planes respectively.
Here x is along the length, y is along the height and z
is along the direction of propagation of the wave. By
keeping any two of the three variables constant, the
variation with respect to the third variable can be studied.
The developed rectangular cavity module has the
capability to plot the electric field, the magnetic field and
the surface current density patterns for any arbitrary
mode in the cavity.
B. Electric and Magnetic Field patterns in the Rectan-
gular Cavity for the Characterization of Dielectric Sam-
ples
As explained briefly in section-II, the rectangular
waveguide cavity can be used for the measurement of
permittivity and permeability of materials. At microwave
frequencies, the materials are usually nonmagnetic; hence
Figure 17. Current distribution in TE10 mode along the YZ and XZ the measurement of complex permittivity of materials
planes becomes more important. The selection of the particular
mode for the material measurement is decided by many
V. VISUALIZATION MODULE FOR THE RECTANGULAR factors. The prime consideration in the mode selection is
CAVITY to know whether the parameters of the interest are the
permittivity or the permeability of the test specimen. If
A. Electric and Magnetic Field patterns in the Rectan-
the permittivity of the sample is the desired parameter,
gular Cavity then the mode should be selected in such a way that the
The rectangular cavity has been implemented in test specimen can quite conveniently be placed at the
LabVIEW, and the electric and magnetic field patterns position of maximum electric field. Similarly, for the
along with the surface current density on all three planes permeability measurement, the mode selection should be
have been plotted for the general TEmnp and TMmnp primarily decided by the fact that the sample has to be
modes. The front panel of the VI is shown in Fig. 18. inserted at the position of maximum magnetic field.
The user interface in Fig 18 is annotated as follows: In the present work, the module is primarily developed
A. Select TE/TM for the permittivity measurement. The TE10p mode (p
B. Select Electric/Magnetic Field/Surface current being odd) is selected for this purpose, which ensures the
density maximum value of the electric field at the centre. The

iJOE – Volume 8, Issue 3, August 2012 19

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

sample is inserted at this position for maximum

sensitivity. The electric field pattern for this mode along
the XY plane inside the rectangular cavity is shown in
Fig. 19. The electric field pattern for the TE10p mode
along the XZ and YZ planes with ‘p=3’ is shown in Fig.
2 0 , where it can again be seen that the electric field
is maximum at the centre. It can also be seen from this
figure that the dielectric sample is inserted at the position
of maximum electric field, which is exactly at the
center of both xz and yz planes.
The idea of inserting the sample at the position of
maximum electric/magnetic field stems from the fact that
the placement of the sample at this position provides the
maximum sensitivity of the desired parameter of interest.
C. The permittivity measurement using the TE10n
mode of Rectangular Waveguide Cavity Figure 19. Electric Field pattern of TE10n mode in rectangular cavity
As explained in section II, the determination of
dielectric constant and the loss tangent of the test sample
using the cavity approach requires the measurement of
the resonant frequency and the Q factor of the cavity
with and without the sample. Hence, the frequency
response of the rectangular cavity (with and without the
dielectric sample) is obtained using the full 3D
electromagnetic field simulator. The generated frequency
response was used to calculate the resonant frequency
and Q factor of the cavity, which ultimately provides the
dielectric constant and the loss tangent of the test sample.
Now, based on the above principle, an appropriate
module using LabVIEW is developed to calculate the
dielectric properties of the test sample in the microwave
frequency range as shown in Fig. 21.
Fig. 21 shows the front panel of the developed module,
where various options of the module are marked with
different tabs, which are explained in the later part of
the text. The simulation is carried out for a number of
commonly used dielectric samples, and these data are
stored in a pre-defined array. In a way, these data
represent the measured values so that when a user selects
the particular material in order to find its dielectric
properties, the stored data corresponding to the test
sample are loaded into the module. These data
representing the frequency response of the cavity are also Figure 20. Dielectric sample inserted at the center position for material
shown on the screen, which are then used to compute the measurement
complex permittivity of the selected test sample. Various
tabs indicated in Fig. 18 indicate the following features of
the developed module:
A. Option for loading the file corresponding to the
empty cavity into the module, and showing its
frequency response on the screen;
B. Selection of type of cavity Rectangular/Circular
C. Selection of the test sample, whose dielectric
properties are to be determined, and visualiza-
tion of the frequency response of the loaded
cavity on the screen;
D. The resonant peak corresponding to the empty
cavity;
E. The resonant peak corresponding to the loaded
sample into cavity;
F. Computed complex permittivity, the real part
 ' and the imaginary part  '' ;
G. Computed loss tangent of the test sample; Figure 21. Front panel showing the calculation of dielectric constant of
the material inserted.

20 http://www.i-joe.org
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIRTUAL LAB MODULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD PATTERNS IN
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES AND CAVITIES

It may be mentioned here that after plotting the using the rectangular waveguide cavity without requiring
frequency response of the empty cavity and the cavity any expensive hardware at the user end.
loaded with the sample, their respective peak frequency The main emphasis of the proposed work has been
and Quality factor are observed as shown in Fig. 21. the development of visual aid tools for under graduate
Equations (6) and (7) are then employed to calculate the students in order to assist them in understanding some
value of the dielectric constant and the loss tangent of the vital concepts in the field of RF, electromagnetic field
test samples from the observed peaks [5]. The developed theory and Microwave Engineering. However, the overall
module to determine the dielectric constant of the test process is ongoing, and this task can only be improved by
sample can be accessed online for better understanding of getting valuable feedbacks from users. The students are,
the overall procedure at http://www.iitk.ac.in/mimt_lab/ therefore, encouraged to visit the web page of our
vlab/index.php?pg=cavity/aim&usr=&enc= virtual lab at the address given earlier, and perform the
actual experiment using the procedure and guidelines
VI. CONCLUSION provided on the site. After performing the experiment,
The easy to understand visualization modules have they can provide the feedback online at the web site of
been developed in order to observe the electric and the lab.
magnetic field patterns inside the waveguide and cavity
structures. The simulation modules provide students an REFERENCES
opportunity to visualize and understand various concepts [1] E. Lunca, S. Ursache, O. Neacsu, “Graphical programming tools
related to the electric and magnetic field mode patterns, for electrical engineering higher education,” International Journal
which are otherwise quite difficult to conceptualize. The of Online Engineering, vol. 7, Issue 1, Feb. 2011, pp. 19-24..
main emphasis in the proposed work has been the [2] G Gercek and N Saleem, “Transforming traditional labs into
visualization of field patterns inside the rectangular virtual computing labs for distance education,” International Jour-
nal of Online Engineering, vol. 4, Issue 1, Feb. 2008, pp. 46-51.
waveguide and the cavity, but the overall procedure can
[3] J L Gomez-Tornero et al. “Interactive lab to learn radio astron-
equally be applied to other RF and microwave structures. omy, microwaves and antenna engineering at the technical univer-
The visualization modules are available online as a part sity of Cartagena,” International Journal of Online Engineering,
of the RF and Microwave Virtual Laboratory currently vol. 7, Issue 1, Feb. 2011, pp. 10-18.
being developed at IIT Kanpur, and can be accessed at [4] D M Pozar, Microwave Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
(http://www.iitk.ac.in/mimt_lab/vlab/index.php) [5] Agilent Application Note - 11949698, “Basics of Measuring the
Apart from the field visualization, one practical Dielectric Properties of Materials".
application of the rectangular waveguide cavity has been [6] The LabVIEW environment – http://www.ni.com.
shown in the proposed work by developing an
appropriate module for the electromagnetic material AUTHORS
characterization in the microwave frequency band. The Tannu Gupta, Sudha Madhuri A, Prachi, M Jaleel
developed module in this case helps in finding the Akhtar and K Vaibhav Srivastava are with the
dielectric constant and loss tangent of the material under Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of
test by inserting a small piece of sample inside the Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India.
rectangular cavity. The module helps the student in This article is an extended version of a per presented at The
understanding the permittivity measurement process International Conference REV2011, held in June 2011, in Brasov,
Romania. Received 16 May 2012. Published as resubmited by the
authors 21 July 2012.

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