Abstract
Conference Title: 2016 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium - MTT 2016 Conference Start Date: 2016, May 22 Conference End Date: 2016, May 27 Conference Location: San Francisco, CA, USA A hands-on approach to avoid scientific debates and confusions about surface waves and Zenneck waves are presented. The reflection coefficient for a TM incident wave on a flat boundary is studied as a function of the medium parameters in the most general way. When the second medium is lossy, the zero of this function results in a Zenneck wave and an infinite value represents a surface wave. Even though both Zenneck and surface waves are evanescent in nature and thus non-radiating, the field distribution for a Zenneck wave does not change with frequency whereas that of a surface wave gets concentrated near the surface with an increase in frequency. Finally a Zenneck wave can be excited by an electromagnetic wave but a surface wave requires electrons or quasiparticles in the form of an evanescent wave to be excited. Important questions are raised about some misused terminologies involving these two waves.