Diffraction from a truncated grounded dielectric slab: a comparative full-wave/physical-optics analysis

The problem of diffraction at the edge of a semi-infinite grounded dielectric slab excited by a line source is investigated. This canonical problem may be used as a reference solution in the high-frequency regime for patch antennas radiating from a finite grounded slab. Both physical optics (PO) and integral equation (IE) approaches are used and compared. The PO formulation is cast in a convenient asymptotic form that neatly describes the diffraction processes associated with the various wave species. The IE, solved by the method of moments, is formulated by enforcing the continuity of the electric field on an infinite aperture orthogonal to the slab. This allows a drastic reduction of unknowns, provided that appropriate entire domain basis functions are used that are shaped to match the asymptotic behavior of the aperture field. Comparison between the PO and IE solutions is presented to determine the range of validity of PO