The matching of parallel dielectric plates to free space

An array of parallel dielectric plates of uniform thickness and separation constitutes an anisotropic medium which is useful as a polarizer. Reflections can be minimized by the use of quarter-wave steps at the two faces. A weather protecting skin is also of practical interest. The phase shifts at the boundary discontinuities form the subject of this paper. While in some instances these phase shifts are of marginal significance, nevertheless they cannot be ignored in the design of a polarizer of the highest performance, or if the use of materials having a high dielectric constant is considered. The scattering coefficients are determined by the variational technique of Brown and Collin using an artificial short. Their method is extended to each of the three types of discontinuity enumerated above. A cosine series of two terms has been used as a trial function. Formulas have been developed to simplify the usual Weissfloch calculation.