Multi-functional metamaterial sensor based on a broad-side coupled SRR topology with a multi-layer substrate

This paper intends to demonstrate the feasibility of a miniaturized multi-purpose metamaterial sensor that can be effectively used for chemical, biological and pressure sensing in microwave and terahertz applications. This novel sensor design makes use of the double-sided split ring resonator (DSRR) topology that is modified to have an additional sensing medium sandwiched between two identical broadside coupled SRR unit cells. The resonance frequency of the resulting DSRR sensor shifts as the dielectric permittivity or thickness of this interlayer medium changes in response to variations in an environmental parameter such as temperature, humidity, density, concentration or pressure. As a proof of concept study, both numerical and experimental results are presented with very good agreement for a multi-functional miniaturized metamaterial sensor prototype operating in X-band. Simulations for three different real-life scenarios are also presented for this sensor topology to demonstrate a moisture sensor, a density sensor and a temperature sensor with very good sensitivities where the interlayer medium is occupied by sawdust, silica aerogel and seawater, respectively.     

Spectroscopic investigation of Tm:TeO2-WO3 glass

We studied the spectroscopic characteristics of telluride glass with the host composition (0.85)TeO₂-(0.15)WO₃, containing 0.25 and 1.0 mol% thulium oxide (Tm₂O₃). By analyzing the absorption spectra with the Judd-Ofelt theory, the average radiative lifetimes of 305±7.5 μs and 1.95±0.02 ms were determined for the ³F₄ and ³H₄ levels, respectively. Measured fluorescence lifetime of the ³F₄ level decreased from 218 to 51 μs for the 0.25 and 1.0 mol% Tm₂O₃ doped samples, respectively, indicating the effect of boosted non-radiative decay at higher doping concentrations. A similar trend was observed for the ³H₄ level, where the fluorescence lifetime decreased from 1.86 ms to 350 μs at these concentrations. The quenching of the 1460 nm (³F₄→³H₄) emission in favor of the 1800 nm (³H₄→³H₆) emission due to cross relaxation was further evident in the fluorescence spectra of the samples. The calculated stimulated emission cross sections (3.73±0.1×10⁻²¹ cm² at 1460 nm and 6.57±0.07×10⁻²¹ cm² at 1808 nm) reveal the potential importance of the Tm³⁺:(0.85)TeO₂-(0.15)WO₃ glass for applications in fiber-optic amplifiers and fiber lasers.