Evaluation of uniform diffraction behavior from circular apertures on opaque and perfectly conductive surfaces using BDW theories

Purpose This study presents a unified and comparative analysis of uniform diffraction fields generated by circular apertures on three canonical surface types: opaque, perfectly electric conductive (PEC) and perfectly magnetic conductive (PMC). This study aims to explore how these boundaries influence field uniformity and angular behavior under identical conditions. Design/methodology/approach The classical boundary diffraction wave (BDW) theory is applied to the opaque case, and an extended BDW formulation is developed for PEC and PMC surfaces to account for reflective effects. Analytical expressions are derived, and numerical simulations are conducted to examine the impact of aperture size and observation distance. Findings The results reveal that PEC and PMC surfaces introduce significant modifications to the angular distribution of the diffracted field, including phase reversals and amplitude oscillations. The extended BDW model successfully predicts these behaviors, particularly near shadow boundaries and axial zones. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to idealized geometries and monochromatic wave excitation. It does not yet consider material losses or complex aperture shapes. Future work may expand this framework to more realistic electromagnetic structures. Practical implications The findings can help electromagnetic engineers optimize antenna design, stealth surfaces and metastructures by offering better control over field uniformity and diffraction behavior across different surface types. Social implications While the work is theoretical, it supports technological development in sectors like communication, defense and sensing, contributing indirectly to infrastructure reliability and performance. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first unified parametric study that simultaneously evaluates opaque, PEC and PMC surfaces using classical and extended BDW approaches. It introduces a novel high-frequency framework for comparing uniform diffraction field behavior across distinct boundary conditions.