Electromagnetic wave energy flow control with a tunable and reconfigurable coupled plasma split-ring resonator metamaterial: A study of basic conditions and configurations

TLDR: In this article, the authors proposed and studied numerically a tunable and reconfigurable metamaterial based on coupled split-ring resonators (SRRs) and plasma discharges, which couples the magnetic-electric response of the SRR structure with the electric response of a controllable plasma slab discharge.

Abstract: We propose and study numerically a tunable and reconfigurable metamaterial based on coupled split-ring resonators (SRRs) and plasma discharges. The metamaterial couples the magnetic-electric response of the SRR structure with the electric response of a controllable plasma slab discharge that occupies a volume of the metamaterial. Because the electric response of a plasma depends on its constitutive parameters (electron density and collision frequency), the plasma-based metamaterial is tunable and active. Using three-dimensional numerical simulations, we analyze the coupled plasma-SRR metamaterial in terms of transmittance, performing parametric studies on the effects of electron density, collisional frequency, and the position of the plasma slab with respect to the SRR array. We find that the resonance frequency can be controlled by the plasma position or the plasma-to-collision frequency ratio, while transmittance is highly dependent on the latter.