WAVE-PROPAGATION ALONG A FULLY OR A PARTIALLY LOADED PARALLEL-PLATE CHIROWAVEGUIDE

The dispersion curves of a partially loaded parallel plate chirowaveguide are obtained by finding the roots of the transcendental equation resulting from the boundary conditions of the electromagnetic field at the conducting plates and at the chiral-dielectric interface. The analysis of the fast-fast wave region in the fully loaded chirowaveguide shows that for certain frequencies which are whole multiples of a given frequency, the even and the odd curves intersect and that the phase velocity has a constant value at the intersection points. The analysis of the slow-fast-fast region in the partially loaded chirowaveguide shows that in certain frequency ranges the propagation coefficients are complex conjugate and come in pairs of opposite signs. In these cases there is no net flow of energy through any cross-section of the guide and only stored, reactive energy is present.