Diffraction by a dielectric half-plane

The problem of diffraction of a plane electromagnetic wave by a dielectric half-plane is reconsidered for solution by utilizing a set of recently developed approximate boundary conditions and the Wiener-Hopf technique. It is observed from the present solution of the problem that reflected waves cease to exist if the angle of incidence takes up the value where represents the refractive index of the material of the half-plane under consideration. Expression for the diffracted far field is obtained by using a modification of the saddle point method, and numerical values of the diffraction coefficients are presented in the form of a table for a special value of the refractive index and for different values of the parameter representing the (small) thickness of the half-plane and the wavenumber.