Normalized frequency for noncircular dielectric waveguides.

This paper points out that the commonly used normalized frequency for noncircular dielectric waveguides, which is based on the semiminor axis, causes the cross‐sectional area to vary with the cross‐sectional shape. Consequently, the shape effects described with the conventional normalized frequency are not due to the shape alone but the combined effects of the shape and area. Our numerical results show that the area effect is greater than the shape effect. An improved definition of normalized frequency based on an equivalent radius is proposed in this paper. Conversion formulas to convert from the conventional normalized frequency to the proposed normalized frequency are provided for elliptical and rectangular waveguides. Our numerical results show that the shape effects described by the proposed normalized frequency are free from the area effect. Consequently, the proposed normalized frequency is more accurate than the conventional normalized frequency in describing the shape effect of noncircular dielectric waveguides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]