Diffraction by Thick Conducting Haft-Plane and a Dielectric-Loaded Waveguide

This paper investigates the problem of diffraction of an incident plane wave by a half-plane with a finite thickness. The generalized scattering matrix procedure, which has been found useful for attacking waveguide discontinuity problems, is shown to apply to open region problems as well. Based on this procedure, a highly convergent Neumann Series solution is derived, and numerical calculations are presented for a wide range of parameters. The method of solution is not restricted to sufficiently thin half-planes only, as is the one discussed by Jones, although the labor in numerical calculation increases with increasing thickness. Comparisons with Jones' results show good agreement in the range where his results are valid. New results are presented for the extended range of thickness of the half-plane. Two other related problems, viz., those of radiation from a waveguide loaded with a dielectric or plasma medium, and diffraction by an inhomogeneously loaded waveguide, are also investigated in this paper.