SHIELDING

Electronic devices are commonly packaged in a conducting enclosure

(shield) in order to (1) prevent the electronic devices inside the shield from
radiating emissions efficiently and/or (2) prevent the electromagnetic fields
external to the device from coupling efficiently to the electronics inside the
shield.

(1)

(2)

The effectiveness of the shield in preventing externally-directed

radiation or internally-directed radiation is a function of the shield material
and thickness, along with the enclosure geometry. Ideally, the shield would
be a completely enclosed structure. However, the need for power and
communication conductors to penetrate the enclosure, along with the need
for effective ventilation, will compromise the effectiveness of the shield.
The shielding effectiveness of an electromagnetic shield is typically
defined as the ratio of a field magnitude (electric or magnetic) without the
shield in place to the field magnitude with the shield in place. This
definition of the shielding effectiveness is equivalent to that of insertion
loss in microwave circuits where the insertion loss of a given component
is typically defined as the ratio of the signal obtained without the
component in the circuit to the signal obtained with the component in the
circuit.

SHIELDING EFFECTIVENESS
In order to make a straightforward comparison of the shielding
capabilities of one material to another, the simple geometry of a planar
metallic shield of thickness t in air is considered, as shown below. The
shielding effectiveness of a given shield is actually a function of the
distance from the incident wave source (near-field sources and far-field
sources). The source is initially assumed to be a far-field source such that
the incident wave can be approximated by a normally-incident uniform
plane wave. As the incident wave encounters interface #1at z = 0, a portion
of the wave is reflected away from the interface, while the remainder of the
wave is transmitted into the metal, and is attenuated as the wave travels
through the metal. A portion of forward wave in the metal is reflected from
interface #2 at z = t producing a reverse wave, while the remainder of the
wave is transmitted into the air region (z > t). The reflection/transmission
process at the two interfaces produces, in theory, an infinite number of
reflected, forward, reverse and transmitted wave components.

The electric field shielding effectiveness (SEE) and the magnetic field
shielding effectiveness (SEM) in dB of the planar shield are defined by

For far-field sources, SEE = SEM since the ratio of the electric field to the
magnetic field for a uniform plane wave is constant (equal to the wave
impedance of the medium).

For near-field sources, in general, SEE SEM given the rapid variation of
the near fields in the vicinity of the source. Thus, the electric and magnetic
shielding effectiveness terms are different and vary as a function of
distance from the source.
The shielding effectiveness of the planar shield is governed by three
distinct mechanisms involving the interaction of the incident wave with the
air/conductor interfaces and the conducting medium of the shield. These
mechanisms are:
(1)

Reflection loss
A portion of the incident wave is reflected from interface
#1. The amplitude of the reflected wave fields are equal
to those of incident wave fields multiplied by the
reflection coefficient for waves moving from air into the
conductor (a-c).

(2)

Absorption loss
All of the forward and reverse waves propagating within
the conducting shield are significantly attenuated
according to the attenuation constant for the conducting
shield. This attenuation of the wave corresponds to the
loss of wave energy in the form of heat. The complexvalued propagation constant () within the conducting
shield is given by

where is the attenuation constant and is the phase

constant for the shield material. The amplitudes of the
waves internally reflected from interface #1 and interface
#2 are proportional to the reflection coefficient for waves
moving from the conductor into air (c-a) given by

For good conductors, the attenuation constant can be

approximated by the inverse of the skin depth ().

The thickness of the shield relative to the skin depth

(which is a function of frequency) dictates how
significantly the wave is attenuated as it propagates
through the shield.

(3)

Multiple reflections
A portion of each of the forward waves within the planar
shield is transmitted into the air region (z > t). The
transmitted fields used in the SE calculations are the
vector sum of the fields associated with these forward
waves. Likewise, a portion of each of the reverse waves
within the planar shield is transmitted into the air region
(z < 0). The reverse waves transmitted out of the planar
shield represent additional losses which enhance the
shielding effectiveness value. Both of these transmitted
waves are proportional to the transmission coefficient for
waves moving from the conductor to air (Tc-a).

The significance of the multiple reflections is related to

the thickness of the planar shield relative to the skin
depth. If the shield is several skin depths thick, there is
significant attenuation as the initial wave progresses
across the shield, making the effect from multiple
reflections negligible. Conversely, the effect of multiple
reflections can be significant for shields that are only
fractions of a skin depth (low frequencies).

An exact solution for the shielding effectiveness (SEE = SEM = SE)

can be obtained for the case of a far-field source assuming normal
incidence. The general form of the fields associated with the separate wave
components are shown below.

Interface #1
z=0

Interface #2
z=t

Applying the boundary conditions (continuous tangential electric and

magnetic fields) at interface # 1 (z = 0) gives

Applying the boundary conditions at interface # 2 (z = t) gives

Given the incident field amplitude, the preceding four equations can be
solved for the four unknowns (the reflected, forward, reverse and
transmitted amplitudes). The resulting ratio of the incident field to the
transmitted field is

The shielding effectiveness of the planar shield is then

The three terms in the equation above can be identified separately as the
contributions to the shielding effectiveness from reflection loss, multiple
reflections and absorption loss.
The shielding effectiveness in dB can then be written as

where RdB, MdB and AdB represent the contributions to the shielding
effectiveness in dB due to reflection loss, multiple reflections and
absorption loss, respectively.

The separate terms in the shielding effectiveness expression can be

simplified for typical shields made from good conductors ( o ), for
which the following approximations are valid.

This gives

Inserting these approximations into the SE component equations gives

The terms above represent the far-field shielding effectiveness

contributions for a good conductor.
Example
Determine the shielding effectiveness in dB for a 20 mil thick sheet
of copper ( = 5.8 107 S/m) at 1 MHz due to (a.) reflection loss
from the surface of the copper sheet (b.) multiple reflections within
the copper sheet (c.) absorption loss within the copper and (d.) all
three shielding mechanisms (the total SE of the copper sheet).

(a.)

(b.)

(c.)

(d.)

NEAR-FIELD SHIELDING EFFECTIVENESS

The determination of the near-field shielding effectiveness is a much
more difficult problem than the far-field case due to the complexity of the
near fields. However, we may approximate the near-field shielding
effectiveness by replacing the far-field wave impedance (o) in the far-field
shielding effectiveness equation by an equivalent near-field wave
impedance. The near-field wave impedance is defined using the same
equation as that used for the far-field wave impedance (the ratio of electric
field to magnetic field). The near-field source can be classified as an
electric field source or a magnetic field source as to which field component
is dominant in the near-field. An electric field source can be represented
as a superposition of Hertzian dipoles (elemental electric sources) while a
magnetic field source can be represented as a superposition of small loops
(elemental magnetic sources). The wave impedances of these sources are

where r represents the distance from the source (see Figure 10.10, p. 738).
Note that the electric field is dominant in the near field of a Hertzian dipole
while the magnetic field is dominant in the near field of the small loop.
The wave impedances of both sources approach o in the far-field.
Inserting the respective wave impedance into the far-field shielding
effectiveness terms yields the near-field shielding effectiveness
contributions. The reflection loss and multiple reflection terms are
functions of the wave impedance (type of source) while the absorption loss
term is not.

Electric sources

Magnetic sources

Note that the electric field source generates a high-impedance field

in the near-field, while the magnetic field source generates a lowimpedance field in the near-field. The near-fields of these sources have the
following variation.

The wave impedances very close to the electric field or magnetic field
source (assuming or n 1) can be approximated by

The magnitude of the wave impedances very close to the source in terms
of wavelength are

By identifying the type of near-field source in a given application, one can

translate the shielding results for far-field sources to the case of the nearfield source. In addition to simple dipole and loop geometries, examples
of electric field and magnetic field sources include such things as spark
gaps and brush contacts (electric field sources) and transformers (magnetic
field sources).

Example
Determine the shielding effectiveness in dB for a 20 mil thick sheet
of copper ( = 5.8 107 S/m) at 1 MHz given (a.) an electric source
at a distance of 1 m from the shield (b.) a magnetic source at a
distance of 1 m from the shield.

(a.)

Note that the multiple reflection loss and absorption loss for this nearfield electric source are the same as that found for the previous farfield shielding example.

(b.)