Electromagnetic Response of Anisotropic Laminates to Distributed Sources

A stable method of calculation of the electromagnetic response of planar anisotropic laminates to an active source with limited distribution along the strata direction is developed. The laminates can be sandwiched between isotropic, anisotropic, or perfectly conducting covers/substrates. The source is either inside the laminates or in the cover or substrate. Based on the propagator matrix method, the proposed method relies on downward- and upward-going recurrence relations which transfer the tangential electromagnetic fields from one interface to the next in accord with the boundary conditions, even when a distributed active source is embedded between the two interfaces. The response of general anisotropic laminates to active sources within or above them can thus be efficiently and accurately computed without concerning numerical instability. Some focus is put also onto electrically uniaxial materials with anisotropy axes parallel with the strata (fiber-reinforced composite panels). The method works for conductive and dielectric materials, from eddy-currents to microwaves, without specific tuning, as illustrated by a number of examples in comparison to the literature.