Deep penetration properties of inhomogeneous waves

This article demonstrates that high penetration on lossy media can be achieved by using inhomogeneous waves. Penetration properties of inhomogeneous waves are initially presented studying a plane wave impinging on the separation surface between two media, where at least the medium in which the wave is transmitted is assumed lossy. The theory presented in the first part of the article is then explored by considering more realistic scenarios based on leaky waves generated by uniform microstrip antennas in the X band. Finally, practical limits and potentialities of the shown approach are discussed.