COUPLING MECHANISM OF 2 DIPOLES WITHIN A CONDUCTOR-BACKED THIN DIELECTRIC SLAB ABOVE THE EARTH

A coupling mechanism between two dipoles within a conductor-backed thi n dielectric layer above the earth is calculated by a saddle-point met hod. When the dielectric layer is thin enough to support a cutoff mode , the electric field at the point of receiving dipole due to a transmi tting point dipole may be approximated by sum of contributions of bran ch points of TE mode and poles of TM mode. The branch points and poles contributions are interpreted as evanescent lateral-waves and leaky-w aves, respectively. Comparison of numerical results and asymptotic res ults shows excellent agreement.