An examination of the guided waves supported by cylindrical structures embedded in a plane layered media is presented. A theory for general cylindrical structures, both open and closed, is developed using a hybrid Green's function-integral equation approach. A spectral-domain analysis is utilized in the infinite axial dimension of the structure, with an integral equation formulated over the remaining transverse dimensions. Appropriate Green's functions are developed to account for the infinite stratified supporting medium and a method of moments technique is then used to solve the resulting set of spectral-domain integral equations. The wave properties characteristic to these structures are examined, leading to the identification of various commonly used approximation methods. Specific attention is paid to the use of only the discrete mode contributions to represent the electromagnetic quantities. To this extent, a method of solving for the propagation constants and a new definition of the characteristic impedances for open guided wave structures is presented.

Excitation of and propagation along infinite thin-wire transmission lines located above a lossy half-space is examined, with numerical results presented for the discrete mode propagation constants and the currents excited by external dipole and delta function voltage sources. The validity of using the transmission line approximation in the near field and the saddle point method in the far field are discussed. Analytical expressions for the propagation constants and characteristic impedances of a single thin-wire conductor are formulated using the proposed techniques. These results are compared to definitions currently available in the literature. Finally, the case of an arbitrary shaped conductor, which can be located near or at the lossy planar interface is examined.

The appendices provide formulations and evaluation techniques for the Green's functions of planar sources embedded in a stratified medium. Special emphasis is placed on formulating the homogeneous half-space geometry. The resulting Green's functions present themselves in single or double infinite integral form, making them difficult to evaluate. Existing approximation methods and some new closed form analytical expressions are presented for their evaluation. As well, a technique for their numerical integration is proposed.