| The contribution of this research work to the body of existing knowledge is a novel design (inverse) method to compute the distribution of fields when electromagnetic waves interact with surfaces. If given a desired distribution of electromagnetic fields (radiation pattern), the design (inverse) method developed will rapidly allow a designer to determine a unique geometric solution which will provide the desired radiation pattern, which is an inverse problem. The method developed can also be used as an analysis tool to analyze radiating or receiving structures with simple and complex non-linear geometric features. In the extensive literature search provided in this work, others have used analytical methods for computing the distribution of electromagnetic fields when waves propagate and interact with structures. This requires a mathematical framework to be developed using time-harmonic and magnetic fields to solve boundary value problems using closed-form mathematical relationships that only have closed-form solutions for a few simple geometrical shapes. When the geometrical features of a structure contain arbitrary shapes with irregular geometries, finite element methods can also be used as analysis tools to handle any type of geometrical features, however, both of these methods are used to perform analysis of these types of problems and are very time consuming and not suited as design tools to rapidly provide design information on the geometry features that provide a desired electric field distribution. This revolutionary methodology provides a design tool which currently does not exist in the reviewed published literature. It overcomes deficiencies presented by current analysis tools, such as theoretical, analytical and numerical methods which are capable of analyzing wave propagation and interaction problems, but are not suited to rapidly design geometrical features of radiating or receiving structures. |
