Metamaterials are artificial structures that can be designed to exhibit specific electromagnetic properties not commonly found in nature. Recently, metamaterials with simultaneously negative permittivity (/spl epsiv/) and permeability (/spl mu/), more commonly referred to as left-handed (LH) materials, have received substantial attention in the scientific and engineering communities. The unique properties of LHMs have allowed novel applications, concepts, and devices to be developed. In this article, the fundamental electromagnetic properties of LHMs and the physical realization of these materials are reviewed based on a general transmission line (TL) approach. The general TL approach provides insight into the physical phenomena of LHMs and provides an efficient design tool for LH applications. LHMs are considered to be a more general model of composite right/left hand (CRLH) structures, which also include right-handed (RH) effects that occur naturally in practical LHMs. Characterization, design, and implementation of one-dimensional and two-dimensional CRLH TLs are examined. In addition, microwave devices based on CRLH TLs and their applications are presented.

Composite right/left-handed transmission line metamaterials

Transformation optics describes the capability to design the path of light waves almost at will through the use of metamaterials that control effective materials properties on a subwavelength scale. In this review, the physics and applications of transformation optics are discussed.

Transformation optics and metamaterials

The use of liquid metals based on gallium for soft and stretchable electronics is discussed. This emerging class of electronics is motivated, in part, by the new opportunities that arise from devices that have mechanical properties similar to those encountered in the human experience, such as skin, tissue, textiles, and clothing. These types of electronics (e.g., wearable or implantable electronics, sensors for soft robotics, e-skin) must operate during deformation. Liquid metals are compelling materials for these applications because, in principle, they are infinitely deformable while retaining metallic conductivity. Liquid metals have been used for stretchable wires and interconnects, reconfigurable antennas, soft sensors, self-healing circuits, and conformal electrodes. In contrast to Hg, liquid metals based on gallium have low toxicity and essentially no vapor pressure and are therefore considered safe to handle. Whereas most liquids bead up to minimize surface energy, the presence of a surface oxide on these metals makes it possible to pattern them into useful shapes using a variety of techniques, including fluidic injection and 3D printing. In addition to forming excellent conductors, these metals can be used actively to form memory devices, sensors, and diodes that are completely built from soft materials. The properties of these materials, their applications within soft and stretchable electronics, and future opportunities and challenges are considered.

Stretchable and Soft Electronics using Liquid Metals.

Metamaterials exhibit numerous novel effects1,2,3,4,5 and operate over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum6,7,8,9,10. Metamaterial devices based on these effects include gradient-index lenses11,12, modulators for terahertz radiation13,14,15 and compact waveguides16. The resonant nature of metamaterials results in frequency dispersion and narrow bandwidth operation where the centre frequency is fixed by the geometry and dimensions of the elements comprising the metamaterial composite. The creation of frequency-agile metamaterials would extend the spectral range over which devices function and, further, enable the manufacture of new devices such as dynamically tunable notch filters. Here, we demonstrate such frequency-agile metamaterials operating in the far-infrared by incorporating semiconductors in critical regions of metallic split-ring resonators. For this first-generation device, external optical control results in tuning of the metamaterial resonance frequency by ∼20%. Our approach is integrable with current semiconductor technologies and can be implemented in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Metamaterials that possess frequency tunability enable new device functions. By external optical control through the incorporation of semiconductors in metallic split-ring resonators, the researchers provide an elegant solution to frequency-agile terahertz metamaterials.

http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/cas_sites/physics/pdf/Padilla/Nature_Photonics_2_295_2008.pdf

Experimental demonstration of frequency-agile terahertz metamaterials

Antenna Theory And Design

A metamaterial-based electronically controlled transmission-line structure is presented and demonstrated as a novel leaky-wave (LW) antenna with tunable radiation angle and beamwidth functionalities. This structure is, in essence, a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) microstrip structure incorporating varactor diodes for fixed-frequency voltage-controlled operation. Angle scanning at a fixed frequency is achieved by modulating the capacitances of the structure by adjusting the (uniform) bias voltage applied to the varactors. Beamwidth tuning is obtained by making the structure nonuniform by application of a nonuniform bias voltage distribution of the varactors. A rigorous analysis based on an extension of the CRLH concept is proposed and the corresponding dispersion curves, obtained by equivalent-circuit formulas with LC parameters extracted from full-wave simulation, are shown. A 30-cell LW antenna structure, incorporating both series and shunt varactors for optimal impedance matching and maximal tuning range, is designed. This prototype exhibits continuous scanning capability from 50/spl deg/ to -49/spl deg/ by tuning the bias voltages from 0 to 21 V at 3.33 GHz. A maximum gain of 18 dBi at broadside is also achieved. In addition, it provides half-power beamwidth variation of up to 200% with comparison to the case of uniform biasing. The effect of intermodulation due to the nonlinearity of the varactors is shown to be negligible for antenna applications. The antenna is tested in a 10-Mb/s binary phase-shift keying transmission link and successful recovery of the baseband data is demonstrated.

Metamaterial-based electronically controlled transmission-line structure as a novel leaky-wave antenna with tunable radiation angle and beamwidth

A polarization-independent ultrawideband metamaterial absorber is proposed for X-band applications. High absorptivity over an ultrawide spectrum is achieved by the combination of an artificial impedance surface (AIS) and a resistor-capacitor (RC) layer. In addition, the unique hexagonal shape of an AIS and RC layer enables polarization insensitivity. A circuit analysis is introduced based on a transmission-line model and shows good agreement with the full-wave analysis. Fabrication tolerance issues are considered with parametric studies in the electromagnetic simulation. The proposed absorber is fabricated on low-cost FR4 substrates, and its absorption performance is experimentally demonstrated at different angles and polarizations of incident electric fields.

Polarization-Independent and Ultrawideband Metamaterial Absorber Using a Hexagonal Artificial Impedance Surface and a Resistor-Capacitor Layer

A bandwidth-enhanced microwave absorber using a double resonant metamaterial is presented. Its bandwidth is increased compared with previous metamaterial absorbers. The proposed absorber has a thin configuration and its performance is constant for different polarisations. Numerical and experimental results support the proposed absorber's performance.

Bandwidth-enhanced and polarisation-insensitive metamaterial absorber using double resonance

This paper presents the design and analysis of compact coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed zeroth-order resonant (ZOR) antennas. They are designed on a CPW single layer where vias are not required. The ZOR phenomenon is employed to reduce the antenna size. The novel composite right/left-handed (CRLH) unit cell on a vialess single layer simplifies the fabrication process. In addition, the CPW geometry provides high design freedom, so that bandwidth-extended ZOR antennas can be designed. The antenna's bandwidth is characterized by the circuit parameters. Based on the proposed bandwidth extension technique, symmetric, asymmetric, and chip-loaded antennas are designed. The ZOR characteristic and bandwidth extension are verified by a commercial EM simulator. Their performances are compared with those of previously reported metamaterial resonant antennas. They provide further size reduction, higher efficiency, easier manufacturing, and extended bandwidth.

Compact Coplanar Waveguide (CPW)-Fed Zeroth-Order Resonant Antennas With Extended Bandwidth and High Efficiency on Vialess Single Layer

In this paper, a complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR)-loaded patch is proposed as a microfluidic ethanol chemical sensor The primary objective of this chemical sensor is to detect ethanol's concentration First, two tightly coupled concentric CSRRs loaded on a patch are realized on a Rogers RT/Duroid 5870 substrate, and then a microfluidic channel engraved on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is integrated for ethanol chemical sensor applications The resonant frequency of the structure before loading the microfluidic channel is 472 GHz After loading the microfluidic channel, the 550 MHz shift in the resonant frequency is ascribed to the dielectric perturbation phenomenon when the ethanol concentration is varied from 0% to 100% In order to assess the sensitivity range of our proposed sensor, various concentrations of ethanol are tested and analyzed Our proposed sensor exhibits repeatability and successfully detects 10% ethanol as verified by the measurement set-up It has created headway to a miniaturized, non-contact, low-cost, reliable, reusable, and easily fabricated design using extremely small liquid volumes

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/16/11/1802/pdf

Sungjoon Lim

Papers

Metamaterial-based electronically controlled transmission-line structure as a novel leaky-wave antenna with tunable radiation angle and beamwidth

Polarization-Independent and Ultrawideband Metamaterial Absorber Using a Hexagonal Artificial Impedance Surface and a Resistor-Capacitor Layer

Bandwidth-enhanced and polarisation-insensitive metamaterial absorber using double resonance

Compact Coplanar Waveguide (CPW)-Fed Zeroth-Order Resonant Antennas With Extended Bandwidth and High Efficiency on Vialess Single Layer

Complementary Split-Ring Resonator-Loaded Microfluidic Ethanol Chemical Sensor.