High-gain composite microstrip patch antenna with the near-zero-refractive-index metamaterial

A high-gain rectangular microstrip patch antenna which is covered by a single layer metamaterial (MTM) superstrate with the near zero refractive index is proposed. The refraction of the metamaterial at frequency 3.51 GHz–3.57 GHz is very close to zero. The metamaterial with the near zero refractive index is placed 42 mm above an ordinary rectangular microstrip patch antenna. The effectively zero refractive index behavior of metamaterial superstrate can gather the wave emitted from the microstrip patch antenna and collimate it toward the normal direction of the antenna. The finite element method (FEM) and the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method are used to study the characteristics of this antenna. The results of the two methods indicate that the realized gain of the proposed antenna is increased by more than 6 dB, and the antenna has a flatness high gain in the predicted frequency band, where the proposed MTM is designed to have a near zero index of refraction. Therefore, the high-gain antenna is effectively enhanced based on the near-zero-refractive-index metamaterial.     

Numerical study of a near-zero-index acoustic metamaterial

This Letter studies a two-dimensional, membrane-based acoustic metamaterial with a near-zero refractive index. It yields a frequency-dependent effective density that is near-zero at a narrow frequency band centered around its first resonant frequency. This effective density results in its near-zero refractive index. Numerical simulations are shown which demonstrate that the phase in this metamaterial undergoes small changes, and the metamaterial functions as an angular filter such that only a wave with a near-zero incident angle can transmit. Its ability to tailor acoustic phase pattern is also discussed in this Letter.     

超构天线:原理、器件与应用

自从电磁波被发现和应用以来,利用各种材料或者结构调节电磁波的辐射行为、构造高性能的电磁辐射器件一直是研究人员的追求目标.经过百余年的发展,电磁辐射器件的方向性提高、带宽拓展等技术逐渐达到瓶颈.受自然材料电磁特性的限制,微带天线、喇叭天线等传统电磁辐射器件存在体积重量大、工作带宽窄、无法快速动态调控等缺陷,难以满足日益发展的通信技术的需求.近年来出现的亚波长结构可在深度亚波长尺度下调控电磁波的传输行为,出现了多种奇异的电磁现象,完善了传统的电磁学理论,在一定程度上突破了传统材料电磁特性的限制,形成全新的电磁辐射技术,有效解决了传统天线存在的口径大、厚度高、带宽窄等难题,促进了电磁学、光子学、材料学等领域的发展.这种基于超构材料的新型天线可以被称为超构天线,具有高方向性、低副瓣、超宽带、可重构等传统天线难以实现的功能.本文主要回顾了近年来基于亚波长超构材料的超构天线技术的发展现状和取得的成果,介绍了超构材料在亚波长尺度下对电磁波振幅、相位、偏振态等的衍射调控机理,以及在此基础上形成的新型辐射器件,例如相控阵天线、高方向性天线、低雷达散射截面天线,基于亚波长结构的多种偏振调控器件及其在天线中的应用等.在衍射极限尺度下,这种亚波长结构的调控行为可有效提升电磁辐射器件的方向性、带宽,并可重构天线的工作频率、偏振态等性能.     

Phase space analysis of metamaterial-based optical systems

Phase space analysis of light refraction in optical systems consisting of slabs or thin lenses from either metamaterials with negative refractive indices or common materials is performed with the aim of finding the conditions of perfect imaging for metamaterial-based optical systems. The analysis in the paraxial approximation uses ABCD matrices, whereas full ray tracing is employed in the non-paraxial case. The phase space analysis reveals that the ideality of planar metamaterial lenses only occurs when the absolute value of the refractive index in metamaterials is the same as in the surrounding medium.     

一种扩展方形环异向介质结构的设计

为拓宽异向介质结构的带宽和维数,在方形环结构的基础上,提出了一种异向介质的交叉网状结构的设计,并对其介电常数和磁导率的频率特性进行了计算机仿真。研究结果表明,该结构在特定的频段内表现出了明显的负折射特性,与传统的裂环谐振器相比,新结构的结构对称、具有更宽的响应带宽和三维各向异性等特点。     

Theoretical and experimental investigations of easy made fishnet metamaterials at microwave frequencies

In this work, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally a left handed behaviour of a planar fishnet type metamaterial in the microwave regime. The fabrication procedure based on printed circuit board technology and mechanical micromachining technique is easy, unique and doesn’t involve optical lithography. The effective parameters have been extracted using the S parameter retrieval method and show a very good agreement between simulation and experiment. Using finite-element method based simulations and W-band (75 GHz–110 GHz) experiments. We measured a negative index of refraction of −4 at 85 GHz. The demonstrated left handed materials represent a step towards the easy fabrication of metamaterials with a negative refractive index that open a new path for the active manipulation of millimetre wavelengths.     

各向异性超常材料的偏振分离特性

提出了一种利用含有负介电常量和磁导率张量的各向异性超常材料实现偏振分离的方法。通过分析电磁波在无损耗各向异性超常材料中的传输性质以及透射率与入射角度的关系,分类比较了由不同符号的介电常量和磁导率张量组合而成具有不同波矢面的各向异性超常材料的偏振分离特性,比较结果表明波矢面为单叶双曲面和椭球双叶双曲面的各向异性超常材料的偏振分离特性强。前者可以实现入射波中的s分量和p分量中某一分量正折射,另一分量负折射,且在一定条件下可以同时全透射,从而实现大角度偏振分离。后者在一定条件下可实现入射波中的s分量和p分量某一分量全反射,另一分量全透射,从而实现偏振分离。最后,对从各向同性介质入射到这两种各向异性超常材料中的高斯光波的传输进行了模拟计算,结果表明这两种各向异性超常材料可以实现很好的偏振分离功能,有潜力成为新型的偏振分离元件。     

Effect of spiral left-handed material with near-zero index on rectangular microstrip antenna

In this paper, spirals are arranged periodically on the surface of the substrate, making a left-handed material (LHM) with a near-zero index of refraction. A radiation patch is etched on the surface of this substrate, making an antenna. The finite difference time domain method is used to study the effect of this LHM with a near-zero index of refraction on the microstrip. At f=13.78 GHz, the equivalent permittivity and permeability of the proposed spiral materials are both negative; at f=28.02 GHz, the equivalent permittivity and permeability are both negative and the refraction index is near zero. Compared with conventional microstrip antenna, the radiation gain of the antenna is much higher and the return loss is much lower due to the near-zero-index effect.     

Bistable and self-tunable negative-index metamaterial at optical frequencies

We introduce a metamaterial design composed of square plasmonic loops loaded by Kerr nonlinearities that combines enhanced nonlinear response with strong artificial magnetism, ensuring a negative refractive index with bistable and self-tunable response. We verify with full-wave simulations that positive-to-negative switching of refractive index may be obtained with moderate loss. The design of a finite-size metamaterial prism is also presented, supporting at the same frequency, and for the same light intensity, positive or inverted Snell refraction as a function of its previous excitation history.     

Parabolic Split Ring Resonator (PSRR) based MNZ metamaterial with angular rotation for WiFi/WiMax/Wireless/ISM band applications

The engineering in artificial inclusions of metamaterials has immense potential to explore in the field of electromagnetic wave manipulation that created enormous opportunities in the design of millimetre or sub-millimetres structures. In this research paper, Parabolic Split Ring Resonator (PSRR) based MNZ (Mu-Near-Zero) metamaterial with a wider refractive index is introduced for WiFi/WiMax/Wireless/ISM band applications and printing on Rogers RT-5880 lossy substrate with a copper-based metallic structure at 5.8 GHz within the microwave frequency region. The resonant frequency, negative permittivity, near-zero permeability, and negative refractive index are between 5.5-6.3 GHz. This proposed metamaterial structure is analysed with array structures, different substrate material, different orientations, and split gaps.     

Tunable dual-band ferrite-based metamaterials with dual negative refractions

We report on three types of tunable dual-band metamaterial with dual negative refraction in this paper. The three types of metamaterial are composed of ferrite slabs and three different metallic resonators, including split-ring resonators (SRR), Ω-like resonators, and short wire pairs. The ferrite slabs under an applied magnetic bias provide one magnetic resonance frequency band and the three metallic resonators provide another magnetic resonance frequency band, respectively. The continuous wires within the metamaterials provide the negative permittivity in a wide frequency band covering the two magnetic resonance bands. We give the design, analysis and numerical demonstrations of three such types of metamaterial in detail. The effective electromagnetic parameters obtained from the simulated S-parameters indicate that the three types of metamaterial indeed exhibit two negative refraction passbands and the two passbands can also be shifted by changing the magnetic bias. Our results open the way to fabricate tunable dual-band metamaterial cloaks, absorbers, and antennas.     

Negative refraction and left-handed electromagnetism in microwave photonic crystals

We demonstrate the negative refraction of microwaves in a metallic photonic crystal prism. The spectral response of the photonic crystal prism, which manifests both positive and negative refraction, is in complete agreement with band-structure calculations and numerical simulations. The validity of Snell's law with a negative refractive index is confirmed experimentally and theoretically. The negative refraction observed corresponds to left-handed electromagnetism that arises due to the dispersion characteristics of waves in a periodic medium. This mechanism for negative refraction is different from that in metamaterials.     

High numerical aperture and low-loss negative refraction based on the fishnet rich anisotropy

In this paper we report both numerical and experimentally high numerical aperture on a mesostructure based on fishnet-like building blocks. Under the indefinite media framework, we are able to identify a negative refraction never cutoff band (3rd band of the extraordinary transmission metamaterial) with low-losses at millimeter-waves. We relate negative refraction with the diffraction modes of the periodic structure. The work is another step forward in the new but rapidly evolving subfield of negative refraction metamaterials by anisotropy. The breadth and utility of this approach suggests that metamaterials at their meso-scale may circumvent the problem associated to narrowness and losses exhibited by negative refractive index media at their subwavelength domain, while still being away from the wavelength scale of electromagnetic band-gap.     

磁电超材料折射率特性分析

基于麦克斯韦旋度方程, 将磁电超材料板中的电元件和磁元件分别等效为面电流和面磁流, 通过计算这些周期性面电流和面磁流在某个磁电超材料板上产生的总电场和总磁场, 获得了关于面磁流密度和面电流密度的两个方程, 进而推导出了周期性磁电超材料折射率与磁元件的磁导率、 电元件的介电常数和空间色散项之间关系的解析公式. 与传统的折射率计算公式不同, 该解析公式充分考虑到了空间色散以及磁电超材料的电元件和磁元件的相互作用. 折射率理论曲线和基于仿真实验数据的提取值曲线能很好地符合, 这说明文中推导的折射率公式能够正确地描述磁电超材料的负折射特性. 本文的结果将为分析电磁元件之间的相互作用以及设计负折射率符合一定要求的磁电超材料提供重要的理论参考. 关键词： 磁电超材料 周期性结构 负折射率     

The homogeneous problem for a corrugated metamaterial of arbitrary permittivity and permeability: Choosing the proper Riemann surface

To obtain the eigenmodes of the electromagnetic field at a periodically corrugated metamaterial we consider the analytic extension to the complex plane of the solution to the boundary-value problem for a metamaterial grating. We build a proper Riemann sheet for these eigenmodes and we present numerical examples illustrating their propagation characteristics. Particularly, we pay special attention to regimes corresponding to ideally transparent metamaterials with a negative index of refraction, where the eigenmodes can radiate into the metamaterial medium.     

Metamaterials and their application in microwaves: A review

A metamaterial is a composite material that has attracted the attention of researchers since the late 1990s-early 2000s. This material contains an artificial periodic structure, which modifies its permittivity and permeability and, thereby, makes it possible to control the dispersion, refraction, and reflection of electromagnetic waves in the metamaterial. Analytical and experimental studies of the properties of metamaterials, as well as their applications, cover a wide frequency range from radio waves to the visible range. In recent years, considerable progress has been made toward the application of these materials in the microwave range (1–100 GHz). Works on development and application of metamaterials in the microwave range published over the last 8–10 years are reviewed. Artificial transmission lines as 1D metamaterials are discussed. Resonators, filters, and phase shifters based on the “metamaterial philosophy” are considered. Special attention is given to the application of metamaterials in the antenna technology.     

磁电耦合超材料本构矩阵获取方法的研究

单负(仅介电常数或仅磁导率小于零)超材料以及由导线-开口谐振环组成的双负超材料本构参数的提取通常采用传统的S参数方法. 由于磁电耦合超材料存在交叉极化现象, 仅用介电常数和磁导率两个本构参数无法准确描述其电磁特性. 传统的S参数提取方法一开始就假定超材料仅具有介电常数和磁导率两个本构参数, 所以采用该方法提取磁电耦合超材料本构参数存在明显局限性. 将磁电耦合超材料中的电元件和磁元件分别等效为面电流和面磁流, 通过推导平均电通密度和磁通密度与外加电磁场的相互关系, 从理论上获取了磁电耦合超材料2×2 的本构参数矩阵, 确定了磁电耦合超材料这四个本构参数与磁元件的磁导率、电元件的介电常数、空间色散项和耦合系数之间的关系解析公式, 进而获得了折射率理论计算公式. 利用该折射率公式对折射率提取值进行了非线性拟合, 发现提取值和理论值之间的误差很小, 这个结果很好地验证了所给出的本构矩阵解析式和折射率公式的正确性. 根据拟合结果, 获得了磁电耦合超材料本构矩阵中四个电磁参数的频率响应曲线. 所提出的磁电耦合超材料本构矩阵参数获取方法将为研究磁电超材料中电元件和磁元件的耦合现象提供重要的理论参考.     

Sign of the refractive index in lossy metamaterials

One of the criteria for determining the existence of negative index of refraction in artificial electromagnetic structures (metamaterials) is the occurrence of opposite directions of the group and phase velocities. In this work, we study specific examples of metamaterials where we show that the above criterion does not hold when losses are taken into account and dominate the interaction of light with the metamaterial. The structure are three-dimensional superlattices of consisting of plasmonic and polaritonic particles and are studied by a rigorous multiple-scattering theory and effective-medium approximation.     

同时实现介电常数和磁导率为负的H型结构单元左手材料

基于用一种结构同时实现材料介电常数和磁导率为负的思想，提出了H型结构单元左手材料模型.采用矩形波导法测试表明，H型结构单元在微波频率范围出现左手透射峰，并且可以由参数t对左手特性区域进行调控.同时利用相位法、棱镜折射法和散射参量法从实验和理论证明了在左手透射峰区域材料的折射率为负值，介电常数和磁导率亦同时为负.相对由金属开口谐振环与金属线两种结构组合实现的左手材料，H型结构集磁谐振与电谐振于一体，结构简单、制备方便，对微波器件左手材料表现出更多的优越性.     

A novel flat lens horn antenna designed based on zero refraction principle of metamaterials

In this paper, a horn antenna filled with a metamaterial structure as lens inner the aperture is presented. Unlike conventional curve lenses, the lens is designed in the present work using a fully flat structure, which results in a great improvement for the directivity of the horn antenna based on the zero refraction characteristics of the metamaterial. In this structure, a periodic-structure metamaterial with three-layer metal grids is designed using the CST Microwave Studio for optimization and its zero refraction property is validated. For the characterization of the antenna, the electric-field distribution in radiation area, reflection parameter (S₁₁), gain and radiation pattern are calculated. The results show that the gain of a wide flare angle horn antenna is enhanced with over 2 dB between 16.10–17.30 GHz after the metamaterial is utilized. Therefore, the metamaterial lens horn structure results in a miniaturized antenna design approach compared to the optimum conventional horn of the same aperture size and gain in the interested frequency band. PACS 78.70.Gq; 81.05.Zx; 84.40.Ba