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Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials

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DOI: 10.5772/14459 · Source: InTech

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 2

Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials

Ming Huang1 and Jingjing Yang2
School of Information Science and Engineering,
Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091
PR China

1. Introduction
It is well known that electromagnetic wave can be applied to wireless communication,
radar, heating and power transmission. It has brought human society into industrial and
information age. The mechanism behind these applications is electromagnetic radiation, i.e.
energy transportation and conversion. Recently, research shows that evanescent wave,
which is non-radiation wave associated with guided wave theory, can be amplified by
metamaterials. Moreover, the sensitivity and resolution of sensor using metamaterials can
be dramatically enhanced. The metamaterial-assisted sensors hope to fuel the revolution of
sensing technology.
This chapter aims at the study of metamaterial-assisted sensors. Firstly, traditional
microwave sensors are concisely reviewed, with emphasis on the method of microwave
coupling, and the working principle of resonant microwave sensor. Then, the properties of
metamaterials and its application are introduced. Enhancement of sensitivity in slab
waveguide with TM mode and subwavelength resolution properties of perfect slab lens are
demonstrated. The mechanisms of metamaterials for amplifying evanescent wave and for
improving sensitivity and resolution are studied. Thirdly, the simulation results of the
microwave sensor using epsilon near-zero materials (ENZ) and metamaterial particles are
given. At last, the metamaterial-assisted open resonators are discussed.

2. Microwave sensor
Different from the famous radar and remote sensing technology, microwave sensor can
measure properties of materials based on microwave interaction with matter, and it can be
used to provide information about the moisture content, density, structure and shape of
materials, and even chemical reaction. Microwave sensor offers many advantages over
traditional sensor such as rapid measurement, nondestructive, precise, fully automated and
it can be made in a laboratory or on-line. General speaking, there are two kinds of
microwave sensor, i.e., nonresonant and resonant. A decided advantage of resonant sensor
compared with the nonresonant sensor is that resonant sensor have higher sensitivity,
simpler signal processing, and lower cost (Kupfer, 2000; Huang et al, 2007).
One of the key issues related to microwave sensor is the technique of coupling microwave to
test materials. Dozens of techniques have been proposed in the past (Von Hippel, 1995).
Generally, there are eight categories coupling mechanisms for microwave sensor as shown
14 Wave Propagation

in Fig. 1, i.e., transmission-aperiodic-closed (TAC), reflection-aperiodic-closed (RAC),

transmission-aperiodic-open (TAO), reflection-aperiodic-open (RAO), transmission-
resonant-closed (TRC), reflection-resonant-closed (RRC), transmission-resonant-open (TRO),
and reflection-resonant-open (RRO) (Kraszewski, 1991). The schematic diagram of TRC sensor
is shown in Fig. 2. It consists of a resonant cavity, a microwave generator, an interface circuit, a
detecting circuit and a computer. The computer is in charge of signal processing. The detecting
circuit is composed of a linear detector, a low-pass filter and a high speed A/D converter.
Measurement principle is the microwave cavity perturbation techniques. Let Q0 and f0 be the
quality factor and resonance frequency of the cavity in the unperturbed condition,
respectively, and Q and f the corresponding parameters of the cavity loaded with sample.
When a small sample is introduced in a cavity, it causes a frequency shift Δω , and the Q
factor is changed accordingly. These quantities are given by (Huang et al, 2007):

Δω ω = −ω0 (ε r' − 1)∫ E0* ⋅ Edv / 4 W (1)

ve

1 Q − 1 Q0 = 2ε 0ε r" ∫ E0* ⋅ Edv / 4 W (2)

ve

where W = ∫ [(E0* ⋅ D0 + H 0* ⋅ B0 ) + (Eo∗ ⋅ D1 + H 0* ⋅ B1 )]dv , Δω = f − f 0 , f 0 = ω0 2π , E0* , D0 , B0

ve
and H0 are the fields in the unperturbed cavity, D1 and H1 are the fields in the interior of the
sample. Vc and Ve are the volumes of the cavity and the sample respectively, dv is the
elemental volume. Obviously, the measurement of Q factor and resonant frequency is a key
issue for TRC sensor, and the larger the Q factor of the cavity the higher the sensitivity.

Fig. 1. Classification of eight generic types of microwave sensors for monitoring properties
of industrial materials (Kraszewski, 1991)
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 15

Fig. 2. The schemitic diagram of the microwave sensor

3. Metamaterials
3.1 Overview of metamaterials and its sensing applications
In the 1960s, Russian theoretical physicist Veselago realized that if materals could be
properly engineered, their index of refraction could be negative (Veselago, 1968). Veselago’s
work implied that flat materials with simultaneously negative values of permittivity and
permeability could act like lenses and produce other counterintuitive phenomena, such as a
reverse Dopple effect and negative refraction. It took more than 30 years, but in 2001,
researchers led by Pendry, a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London, and Smith,
now at Duke University, made just such a material (Shelby et al, 2001). Since then,
electromagnetic metamaterials, which is artificial materials, whose permittivity and/or
permeability can be designed to continuously change from negative to positive values,
attract great attention all over the world. Many novel applications are proposed based on
metamaterials, such as cloak, concentrators, directive antenna, superscatterers,
superabsorbers, transparent devices and so on. Now, physicists and materials scientists
realize that the losses is a big problem for practical applications of metamaterials (Service,
2010).
However, the properties of metamaterials, usually regarded as detrimental, are either of no
importance for sensor application or may even enhance it. For instance, the sharp resonant
peaks in dispersion are convenient since they may mean an increased sensitivity of sensor
and actually the sharper the peaks are, the better. Since the sensor can be made to operate at
a single frequency, there is no need for broadband materials. One of the unavoidable
drawbacks of the metamaterials, large absorption losses, is practically of no importance here
(Zoran et al, 2007). Moreover, due to evanescent waves can be amplified by metamaterials,
the sensor using metamaterials possesses the characteristics of sub-wavelength resolution
(Pendry, 2000) and high sensitivity. Since sensitivity and resolution are two vital parameters
of sensor, metamaterials will open up an avenue for improving the performance of sensors.
The first revolutionary products using metamaterials might be the metamaterial-assisted
sensors.

3.2 Enhancement of sensitivity in slab waveguide

Fig. 3 shows the model of integrated slab waveguide. In the case of time harmonic field and
lossless, i.e., both ε and μ are all real numbers, suppose that magnetic field H is polarized
along the y-axis, TM wave travels in the z-direction, and H y = H y ( x )e j (ωt − β z ) , then wave
equation is simplified into the following well-known scalar Helmholtz equation:
16 Wave Propagation

∂ 2 H y ( x) ∂z 2 + (ω 2ε ( x) μ ( x) − β 2 ) H y ( x) = 0 (3)

and

Ez (x) = (1/jωε (x))(∂H y ( x) / ∂x). (4)

where ω is angular frequency of the field and β is the propagation constant in z-direction,
which can be written as β= k0N, where k0 is the free space wave number and N is the modal
effective index. The structure of the model is illustrated as followings: in the non working
region, a guiding layer is sandwiched between semi-infinite cladding and substrate, where
d1 is the thickness of the guiding layer, εc and μc, εg and μg, εs and μs are the permittivity and
permeability of the cladding, guiding and substrate layer, respectively. In the working
region, there is a layer of metamaterials with negative permittivity εm, negative permeability
μm, and thickness d2.

Fig. 3. Schematic structure of integrated slab waveguide sensor with a metamaterial layer
In the working region, the solution forms of Eq. (3) in each layer are shown as followings:

H yc (x ) = Ae-γc (x -d 2 ) e − j β z , x > d2 ,
(5)

(
H ym (x) = B1e- γm x + B2eγm x e− j β z ,) 0 < x < d2 , (6)

H yg (x) = ( D1 cos( γg x) + D2 sin( γg x)) e − j β z , -d1 < x < 0, (7)

H ys (x) = Fe γs (x + d1 ) e − j β z , x < - d1 , (8)

where γ c = β 2 − ε 0ε c μ cω 2 , γ m = β 2 − ε 0ε m μmω 2 , γ g = ε 0ε g μgω 2 − β 2 and

γ s = β 2 − ε 0ε s μsω 2 , respectively. Constants A, B1, B2, D1, D2 and F represent the amplitude
of the waves in each layer, and need to be determined from the boundary conditions that
require Hy and Ez to be continuous at x=-d1, 0, and d2, respectively. Substituting Eqs. (5)–(8)
into Eq. (4), we get Ez for each layer, and also the boundary conditions and the
corresponding constants as follows:
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 17

tan(γ g d1 )=(γ 8ε g D 1 − γ gε 8D 2 )/(γ gε 8D1 +γ 8ε g D 2 )

(9)

B1 = 0.5( D1 − γ gε m D2 γ mε g ), B2 = 0.5( D1 + γ gε m D2 γ mε g ), (10)

B1 = 0.5(1 + γ cε m γ mε c )eγ m d 2 A, (11)

B2 = 0.5(1 − γ cε m γ mε c )e −γ m d2 A, (12)

After some algebraic manipulations the dispersion equation of the working region can be
written as:

⎛ γ mε g ⎛ (γ mε c + γ cε m ) − (γ mε c − γ cε m )e−2γ m d 2 ⎞⎞ ⎛ γ sε g ⎞
γ g d1 = arctan ⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎟⎟ + arctan ⎜⎜ ⎟ + mπ , (13)
⎜ γ gε m ⎜⎜ (γ ε + γ ε ) + (γ ε − γ ε )e−2γ m d 2 ⎟
⎝ ⎝ m c c m m c c m ⎠⎠ ⎝ γ gε s ⎠
where m=0, 1, 2,… is the mode order. When d2 approaches zero, i.e., no metamaterial is
available, Eq. (13) is reduced to the well-known dispersion equation for a three-layer slab
linear waveguide given by

⎛ γ sε g ⎞ ⎛ γ cε g ⎞
γ g d1 = arctan ⎜ ⎟ + arctan ⎜ ⎟ + mπ . (14)
⎜ γ gε s ⎟ ⎜ γ gε c ⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠
When γcεm=-γmεc, according to Eqs. (6), (7), (11) and (12), we get B1=0, and A = D1eγ m d2 .
Compared with that in the nonworking region, where A = D1 , the amplitude of evanescent
wave is enhanced by eγ m d2 due to the existence of metamaterial layer. Eq. (13) can be
reduced to Eq. (14). Therefore, the same dispersion equation holds for both the working
region and the nonworking region, and consequently the propagation constants for the two
regions are identical.
Fig. 4 shows the distribution of magnetic field Hy(x). It can be seen that the evanescent wave
in cladding layer is enhanced by metamaterials. It indicates that metamaterials could be
used to amplify the evanescent wave in the cladding layer without affecting the propagation
constant of the waveguide.
1500

1000

500
x (nm)

-500

-1000

-1500
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
H (A/m)

Fig. 4. Magnetic field Hy(x) distribution in three-layer waveguide conventional sensor (blue
dot line) and the proposed sensor with metamaterials (red line), d2 is the thickness of the
metamaterials
18 Wave Propagation

For the sake of simplicity in the evaluation of the sensitivity, it is assumed that
γ c = k0 qc , γ m = k0 qm , γ g = k0qg and γ s = k0qs , where qc = N 2 − ε c , qm = N 2 − nε m , and n is

a negative number, qg = ε g − N 2 and qs = N 2 − ε s . The sensitivity of the proposed

waveguide sensor is obtained in a condensed form, three normalized effective indices Xs, Xc
and Xm and three asymmetry parameters as, ac and am are defined as Xs = qs qg ,
X c = qc qg , Xm = qm qg , as = ε s ε g , ac = ε c ε g , and am = ε m ε g . In the light of these
assumptions, Eq. (13) can be written as

k0 qg d1 = arctan( X s as ) + arctan( X mb1 (amb2 )) + mπ . (15)

-2k0 Xm qg d2
where b1 = (ac Xm + am Xc )-(ac Xm -am X c )e and

-2k0 Xm qg d2
b2 = (ac Xm + am Xc ) + (ac Xm -am X c )e .
In the case of homogenous sensing, the sensitivity S is defined as the ratio of the modal
effective index N change of the guided mode to the refractive index change of the cover nc.
The sensitivity S2 = (∂N / ∂nc ) is calculated by differentiating Eq. (15) with respect to N and
nc.
After some algebraic manipulations, the sensitivity of proposed sensor can be written as

⎡ X a X a ⎤
acqXm ⎢(2 m qg 2 + m )e − f (b1 + b2 ) − (2 m qg 2 − m )(b2 − b1 )⎥
⎣⎢ ε g X c ε g X c ⎦⎥ ,
S2 = (16)
⎛ a (1 + X )2 ⎞⎛ 2 2 2 2 ⎞
am b2 + Xm b1 C
⎜⎜ AmTM + s 2 s 2 ⎟⎜ ⎟⎟ + b 1 b2 1 + G1 + G2
⎝ Xs ( as + Xs ) ⎠⎟ ⎝⎜ am ⎠ Xm

where f = 2k0 Xm qg d2 , G1 = (b2 − b1 )(acC 1 + am XmC 2 X c ),

G2 = e - f (b2 + b1 )(( ac Xm − am Xc ) f Xm -acC1 + C 2 am Xm Xc ),

AmTM = arctan( Xs as ) + arctan( Xm b1 ( am b2 )) + mπ , C1 = 1 + Xm 2 , and C 2 = 1 + Xc 2 .

In a similar manner, Eq. (14) is differentiated to obtain the sensitivity S1 of the three-layer
waveguide conventional sensor without metamaterials. As a result, it can be obtained that

2 / ac q − ac q
S1 = . (17)
1 + X c 2 + rF

where q = (1 + Xs 2 ) ( as + Xs 2 ), r = Xc ( ac 2 + Xc 2 ) ac ,
F = arctan( X s as ) + arctan( X c ac ) + mπ + as (1 + X s 2 ) ( X s (as 2 + X s 2 )). The variation curves of
sensitivity S2 with the different values of thickness d2 are shown in Figs. 5. It is can be noted
that sensitivity goes up with the increasing thickness d2 of the metamaterials. This is an
unique property of metamaterials. It indicates that sensitivity can be enhanced by increasing
the thickness of metamaterial layer.
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 19

Fig. 5. Sensitivity S2 versus the thickness of the metamaterials d2 for different values of ac,
as=0.62, am=-0.5, n=-0.6, and d1=400nm
We have verified that the metamaterials can amplify evanescent waves, and the sensitivity
of sensors with TM mode can be dramatically enhanced compared with the conventional
three-layer TM wave waveguide sensor without metamaterials. The other works about slab
waveguide sensor can also be found in the work of Qing and Taya et al (Qing et al, 2004;
Taya et al, 2009) However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no report about
experimental results till now.

3.2 Enhancement of resolution based on metamaterials

Assume TE wave transmitting along z-axis in Fig. 6, when ω 2c −2 > k x2 + k y2 ,
k z = ω 2c −2 − k x2 − k y2 ≈ ωc −1 = β = 2π λ , the electric field of radiation wave is defined
as E i = E yi e − j (ωt − β z ) . Its transmission properties on the interface between two dielectrics can
be obtained according to the equation of plane wave (Guru & Hiziroglu, 1998).

Fig. 6. Model of the metamaterial slab

When ω 2c −2 < kx2 + ky2 , the electric field of evanescent wave is given by E i = E yi e j ( k z z + k x x −ωt ) ,

where the wave vector k z = j k x2 + k y2 − ω 2c −2 , implies exponential decay. The reflected and
20 Wave Propagation

′
transmitted wave are E r = E yr e j ( − k z z + k x x −ωt ) , E t = E yt e j ( k z z + k x x −ωt ) ,where
, k ′z = j k x2 + k y2 −εμω 2 c −2
K K
the corresponding magnetic field H x can be obtained according to ∇ × E = −∂B ∂t , and
H x = 1 jωμμ0 (∂E y ∂z ) . By matching boundary condition of E y and H x at z = 0 , we can
obtain the following equations E iy + E yr = E ty , (k z ωμ0 ) E iy − ( k z ωμ0 ) E yr = (k z′ ωμμ0 ) E ty . After
some algebraic manipulations the coefficient of transmission and reflection can be written as

t = E ty E yi = 2 μ k z ( μ k z + k z′ ) and r = E yr E iy = ( μ k z − k z ) ( μ k z + k z′ ) . (18)

Conversely a wave inside the medium incident on the interface with vacuum experiences
transmission and reflection as follows:

t ′ = 2k z′ (k z′ + μ k z ) and r ′ = (k z′ − μ k z ) (k z′ + μ k z ) . (19)

To calculate transmission through both surfaces of the slab we must sum the multiple
scattering events,

T = tt ′e jk z′ d + tt ′r ′2e3 jk z′ d + tt ′r ′4e5 jk z′ d + ... = tt ′e jk z′ d (1 − r ′2e2 jk z′ d ) (20)

By substituting from (19) and (20) and taking the limit,

lim T = e− jk z′ d = e − jk z d (21)
μ →−1
ε →−1

The reflection coefficient is given by

lim R = 0 (22)
μ →−1
ε →−1

The Eqs.(21) and (22) was firstly derived by Pendry (Pendry, 2000). It indicates that both
propagating wave and evanescent wave contribute to the resolution of the image. Therefore,
there is no physical obstacle to perfect reconstruction of the image beyond practical
limitations of apertures and perfection of the lens surface.
Based on the method of transformation optics, the performance of perfect slab lens can be
simulated. The coordinate transformation between transformed space and the original space
of the perfect slab lens is shown as follows (Wang et al, 2008).

⎧ x′ + b x′ < 0
⎪
x = ⎨δ x′ + b 0 ≤ x′ < b, y = y′, z = z′ (23)
⎪ x′ + δ b x′ > b
⎩
The corresponding material parameters are

ε x′ = μ x′ = 1 / δ , ε y′ = μ y′ = δ , ε z ′ = μ z ′ = δ (24)

where δ is a small number with positive value and the perfect slab lens can be obtained as
δ goes to zero. Simulation results of the slab lens are shown in Fig. 7. From Fig.7 (a) and (b),
it is seen that the propagating wave as well as the evanescent wave, are directionally guided
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 21

along x-axis to the right side by the slab lens, and the object totally duplicated to the image
plane. The same phenomenon can be observed when reduce the size of the object or
diminish the thickness of the slab, as shown in Fig. 7(c) and (d). The image of the object can
be enlarged with proper coordinate transmission.

Fig. 7. Electric field (Ez) distribution in the planar perfect lens. (a) The thickness of the slab is
b = 4λ , the size of the object is t = 0.2λ . (b) Electric field distribution on the object (up) and
imaging (down) plane. (c) b = 4λ , t = 0.1λ . (d) b = 2λ , t = 0.2λ
Since the perfect lens was proposed by Pendry, imaging beyond diffraction limit have
gained much attention. A series of perfect lensing structures including cylinders, spheres,
corner perfect lens and superlens were developed. But the perfect resolution is difficult to
realize for the inevitable losses of the realizable materials. At microwave frequency band,
subwavelength detecting with resolution of 0.037 λ has been realized by Shreiber et al
(Shreiber et al, 2008).

4. Microwave sensor using ENZ metamaterials

The model of the microwave sensor based on ENZ metamaterials (Wu et al, 2008) is shown
in Fig. 8(a). It is a 3D “dumbbell-shaped” coaxial metallic waveguide filled with ENZ
metamaterials. Fig. 8(b) is a cross-sectional view, where the red region denotes the ENZ
metamaterials, the grey region denotes the metallic conductor, and yellow region located at
the center denotes the testing sample. The ENZ metamaterials is characterized by a Drude-
type model with relative permittivity ε = 1 − ω 2p / ω (ω + jΓ ) , where ω p is the plasma
frequency and Γ is the collision frequency (rad/s). In the simulations, we have taken
ω p R / c = π / 2 . Note that at f = f p , the permittivity of the ENZ metamaterials is given by
ε ≈ jΓ / ω p ≈ 0 . The incident wave is the fundamental TEM mode. The structure is uniform
along the z direction. The simulation results of transmission coefficients for a variation of
sample permittivity are shown in Fig. 9. It’s seen that the transmission coefficients have two
22 Wave Propagation

resonant peaks. The low-frequency peak is red shifted with the increase of sample
permittivity, while the high-frequency peak keeps unchanged. Dielectric properties of the
testing sample can be inversed by measuring the position of the low-frequency peak. When
increasing the length L of the waveguide, results show that the high-frequency peak can be
red shifted. It means that the high-frequency peak is mainly dependent on the Fabry-Perot
resonance.

Fig. 8. (a) Model of the “dumbbell –shaped” coaxial metallic waveguide. (b) Cross-section of
the model. Red region: ENZ metamaterials; Yellow region: testing sample; Grey region:
metallic conductor ( R = 20mm ; r = 8.7 mm ; L = 1.5 R = 30mm ; L1 = L2 = ach = R / 20 = 1mm ). [15]
(Wu et al, 2008)

Fig. 9. Transmission coefficient for a variation of sample permittivity (Wu et al, 2008)

Fig. 10. The power flow distribution (a) and the electric field distribution (b) at the low-
frequency transmission peak (Wu et al, 2008)
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 23

To investigate the working principle of the ENZ metamaterial-assisted microwave sensor,

the power flow and the electric field distribution inside the waveguide are calculated as
shown in Fig. 10. It is seen that the the power flow is squeezed through waveguide filled
with ENZ metamaterials and perfectly recovered to original status at the output port. The
electric field is confined into the detection zone, and as a consequence, this region will be
rather sensitive to any slight change in sample permittivity.
The above simulation results show that the electromagnetic wave can be tunnelled and
squeezed through 3D coaxial waveguide filled with ENZ metamaterials. The effects are
similar to literature results of other guidewave structure (Silveirinha & Engheta, 2006; Alù &
Engheta, 2008). The ENZ metamaterial-assisted wave guide have potential applications in
microwave sensor.

5. Microwave sensor using metamaterial particles

5.1 Microwave sensor based on a single metamaterial particle
The model of the waveguide filled with a single metamaterial particle is shown in Fig. 11(a).
The metamaterial particle with the thickness of 0.44mm is located at the center of the WR-14
rectangular waveguide. Since the topology structure of the particle influence the
performance of the microwave sensor, the resonators with two different geometries are
discussed, as shown in Fig. 11(b) and 11(c). Dimensions of the square asymmetric single
split ring resonator (aSSR) are chosen as as g=1mm, w=0.8mm and L=6.68mm. The position
of the gap is defined by the asymmetric parameter dx. The resonator is designed onto a
0.127mm thick substrate with relative permittivity of 3. Fig. 11(c) shows the cross section of
the rectangular aSSR resonator with the aspect radio of 1/2. Its perimeter and geometric
parameters are the same as the square aSSR. The black region represents dielectric sample.
The simulations were conducted with the commercial software CST. Perfect electric
conductor boundaries were applied to all sides of the model to simulate the waveguide. The
waveguide is terminated on both sides by a waveguide port through which the
electromagnetic waves enter and exit the model. The incident wave is the fundamental TE10
mode with electric field polarized along the y-axis and it propagates along the z-axis.

Fig. 11. (a) Simulation model of the asymmetric metamaterial particle-assisted microwave
sensor. (b), and (c) show the cross section of the square aSSR and rectangular aSSR. Black
region denotes the dielectric sample located in the gap (Yang et al, 2010)
The variation of Q factor as a function of asymmetric parameter is shown in Fig. 12. The
position of the slit is successively moved from a close-to-symmetry position to the left
resonator arm. From Fig. 12, it is seen that Q factor increases with dx and reaches moderate
24 Wave Propagation

values above 1400 for the square aSSR and above 1200 for the rectangular aSSR, at dx
=0.9mm and dx =1.24mm, respectively. Therefore, the Q factor of the asymmetric
metamaterial particle-assisted microwave sensor can be selected by varying the position of
split or the aspect ratio of the resonator ring, which enables a high degree of design
flexibility.

Fig. 12. The Q factor of the asymmetric metamaterial particle-assisted microwave sensor for
a sweep of dx (Yang et al, 2010)

Fig. 13. Relative frequency shift of the spectral response as a function of relative permittivity
of the sample located in the gap. The inset shows the normal electric field distribution for
square aSSR when g=0.5mm, ε r =1 (Yang et al, 2010)

To explore the sensitivity of the asymmetric metamaterial particle-assisted microwave

sensor, dielectric material induced relative frequency shift was simulated. Results show that
the peak position of transmission coefficient S21 is red shifted with the increase of relative
permittivity of the sample located in the detecting zone. The relation between relative
frequency ( Δf ) and sample permittivity is shown in Fig. 13. It indicates that Δf increases
linearly with ε r , and thus, both the square and the rectangular metamaterial resonators can
be used in dielectric sensing. Dielectric properties of the testing sample can be inversed by
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 25

detecting the relative frequency shift of the output signal of the microwave sensor.
Furthermore, the microwave sensor based on the square aSSR will be more accurate in
dielectric sensing, since it induces a larger Δf than the rectangular aSSR for detecting the
same sample. The solid line in Fig. 13 indicates that when reducing the gap size of the
square aSSR to g=0.5mm, a much larger frequency shift can be obtained. Therefore, the
sensitivity of the designed microwave sensor can be further improved by diminishing the
gap size of the metamaterial resonator ring. The gap of the asymmetric metamaterial
resonator ring can be modelled by a capacitor as shown in the inset of Fig.13. Diminishing
the gap size g results in an enhancement of the electric field, while diminishing the distance
between the left and right plates of the capacitor leads to an enhancement of the energy
reservation. Field enhancement is the main reason for the improved sensitivity of the
asymmetric metamaterial particle-assisted microwave sensor.
The above simulation results show that the spectral response and Q factor of the sensor can
be flexibly tailed to design requirement by varying the asymmetry parameter or the
topological structure of the resonator. Two resonator arms of the asymmetric structure can
strongly confine the field into the gap which is very sensitive in dielectric environment.
Moreover, diminishing the gap size will improve the sensitivity to a great extent. Due to the
spectral response of the asymmetric metamaterial resonator can be tailed to microwave,
terahertz, infrared or optical band by miniaturizing the size of the structure, the asymmetric
metamaterial particle-assisted sensor will have potential applications in a wide frequency
band for sensing minute amounts of dielectric sample substance.
The excitation of trapped modes by asymmetrically split rings was firstly reported by
Fedotov et al.(Fedotov, et al, 2007). Then, Al-Naib et al. (Al-Naib et al, 2008) realized
experimentally the thin film sensor with high Q factor by locating one unit cell of double
split ring resonator in the single mode rectangular waveguide. It is believed that more
experimental results about the sensors will be reported in the future.

5.2 Microwave sensor based on coupled metamaterial particles

When a waveguide is filled or partially filled with metamaterials with simultaneously
negative permittivity and permeability, the transmission can be enhanced (Marqués et al,
2002). In this section, a pair of coupled metamterial particles with Ω shape is located in the
rectangular waveguide to form the microwave sensor. The simulation model is shown in
Fig. 14(a). The geometric parameters for the Ω-shaped particles are chosen as w = 0.144 mm,
h = 4.5 mm, d = 0.1 mm, R1=1mm and R2 = 1.4 mm (see Fig. 14(b)). The cross section of the
rectangle waveguide is axb=15mmx7.5mm. The length is l=12mm. The incident wave is the
fundamental TE10 mode propagates along the x-axis, and the incident power is 1W. The
input port is at x=0, the output port is at x=12mm. Electric field and the magnetic field
vectors are along the y and z-axis, respectively.
Fig. 15 shows the comparison of transmission coefficient (S21) between the rectangular
waveguide filled by one pair of Ω-shaped particles and the hollow waveguide. It indicates
that the cutoff frequency of the hollow waveguide is 10GHz, which is in good agreement
with the theoretical results ( λc = 2a ). Interestingly, the transmission coefficient of the
waveguide filled with coupled metamaterial particles has two enhancement peaks at the
frequency of 8.424GHz and 9.864GHz. It is worth noting that the amplitude of the
transmission coefficient S21 is greater than 1 at the two resonant frequencies.
26 Wave Propagation

Fig. 14. (a) Perspective of the model of waveguide filled by one pair of Ω-shaped particles.
(b) The Ω-shaped particles. Red region denotes the detecting zone, i.e., gap of the Ω-shaped
particle (Huang et al, 2009)

Fig. 15. Transmission coefficient (S21) as a function of frequency. Line a and b denote S21 of
hollow waveguide and the waveguide filled with coupled metamaterial particles,
respectively (Huang et al, 2009)
To explore the characteristic of evanescent mode in dielectric sensing, transmission
spectrum was simulated for a variation of sample permittivity, as shown in Fig. 16. It is
found that in the frequency range of 7GHz to 9GHz, the evanescent mode is red shifted with
the increase of permittivity, while the peak position of the cutoff mode, in the frequency
range of 9.7GHz to 10.1GHz, keeps unchanged. Therefore, different dielectric materials
located the detecting zone can be inversed by measuring the peak frequency of the
transmission coefficient in the evanescent mode. Besides, it should be noted that the cutoff
mode is dependent on the Fabry-Perot resonance, since the peak position changes with the
size of waveguide. Another interesting aspect, which is visualized in Fig. 16, is the fact that
the transmission responses for different dielectric are progressively shifted towards left, but
their peaks are not consistent with the dielectric constant increase. The results show that the
peak frequency of transmission coefficient (S21) depends critically on the permittivity of the
sample in the detecting zone, while the amplitude of S21 is a complicated function of the
permittivity and topological structure of the coupled metamaterial particles.
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 27

Fig. 16. Transmission coefficient (S21) versus frequency for different dielectric materials in
the detecting zone (Huang et al, 2009)
To quantify the sensitivity of the evanescent mode for dielectric sensing, the performance of
the metamaterial-assisted microwave sensor is compared with the traditional microwave
cavity. We closed both ends of a hollow waveguide with metallic plates, which forms a
conventional microwave cavity (axbxl=15x7.5x12mm3), and computed the resonant
frequency of the cavity located with dielectric sample. Table 1 shows a comparison between
the relative frequency shift, i.e., Δf N = f N (ε1 ) − f N (ε r ) of the waveguide filled with coupled
metamaterial particles, and that of the conventional microwave cavity, i.e.,
Δf C = f C (ε1 ) − f C (ε r ) . Where, ε1 and ε r denotes the relative permittivity of the air and the
dielectric sample, respectively. It indicates that minium (respectively maximum) frequency
shift of the waveguide filled with Ω-shape coupled metamaterial particles is 360 times
(respectively 450 times) that of the conventional microwave cavity. As a consequence, the
waveguide filled with Ω-shape coupled metamaterial particles can be used as a novel
microwave sensor to obtain interesting quantities, such as biological quantities, or for
monitoring chemical process, etc. Sensitivity of the metamaterial-assisted microwave sensor
is much higher than the conventional microwave resonant sensor.

εr 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

∆fN 144 288 432 558 684 810 918 1026
∆fC 0.4 0.7 1.1 1.3 1.6 1.8 2.2 2.5
∆fN/∆fC 360 411 393 429 428 450 417 410
Table 1. Comparison of the relative frequency shift (MHz) between the waveguide filled
with coupled metamaterial particles and the conventional cavity
In addition, the microwave sensor can also be constructed by filling the other type of
coupled metamaterial particles into the rectangular waveguide. For example, the meander
line and split ring resonator coupled metamaterial particle (Fig. 17(a)); the metallic wire and
split ring resonator (SRR) coupled metamaterial particle (Fig. 17(b)). The red regions shown
in Fig. 17 denote the dielectric substances. Fig. 17(c) and (d) are the front view and the
vertical view of (b).
28 Wave Propagation

Fig. 17. (a) Configuration of the particle composed of meander line and SRR. w = 0.15mm, g
= 0.2 mm, p = 2.92 mm, d=0.66mm, c=0.25mm, s=2.8mm, u=0.25mm, and v=0.25mm. (b)
Configuration of the particle composed of metallic wire and SRR. (c) and (d) are the front
view and the vertical view of (b). l=1.302mm, h=0.114mm, w=0.15mm, d=0.124mm,
D=0.5mm, m=0.5mm
Transmission coefficient of the waveguide filled with any of the above two couple
metamaterial particles also possesses the characteristic of two resonant peaks. When it is
used in dielectric sensing, electromagnetic properties of sample can be obtained by
measuring the resonant frequency of the low-frequency peak, as shown in Fig. 18.

Fig. 18. Transmission coefficient (20log| S21|) versus frequency for a variation of sample
permittivity. (a) The wave guide is filled with coupled meander line and SRR. (b) The wave
guide is filled with coupled metallic wire and SRR. From right to the left, the curves are
corresponding to dielectric sample with permittivity of 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5,
respectively
From the above simulation results, we can conclude that the evanescent wave in the
waveguide filled with coupled metamaterial particles can be amplified. The evanescent
mode is red shifted with the increase of sample permittivity. Therefore, the waveguide filled
with couple metamaterial particles can be used as novel microwave sensor. Compared with
the conventional microwave resonant sensor, the metamaterial-assisted microwave sensor
allows for much higher sensitivity.
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 29

5.3 Microwave sensor based on stacked SRRs

Simulation model of the microwave sensor based on stacked SRRs is shown in Fig. 19. The
size of the waveguide is axbxL=22.86x10.16x12.8mm, as shown in Fig. 19(a). Fig.19(b) is the
front view of the SRR with thickness of 0.03mm. It is designed onto a 0.127mm thick substrate
with relative permittivity of 4.6. The geometric parameters for the SRR are chosen as L=1.4mm,
g=s=w=0.3mm, P=2mm, so that the sensor works at the frequency between 8-10.5GHz. Fig.
19(c) is the layout of the stacked SRRs, the distance between two unit cell is U=0.75.

Fig. 19. (a) The microwave sensor based on stacked SRRs. (b) Front view of the SRR cell.
(c) Layout of the stacked SRRs
Firstly, the effective permeability of the stacked SRRs is simulated using the method
proposed by Smith et al (Smith et al, 2005). The simulation results are shown in Fig. 20. It is
seen that the peak value increases with the number of SRR layer, and a stabilization is
achieved when there are more than four SRR layers. Then, in what follows, the microwave
sensor based on stacked SRRs with four layers is discussed in detail.

Fig. 20. Effective permeability of the stacked SRRs. (a) Real part. (b) Imaginary part. From
right to left, the curves correspond to the simulation results of the stacked SRRs with one
layer, two, three, four and five layers
Fig. 21 shows the electric field distribution in the vicinity of the SRR cells. It is seen that the
strongest field amplitude is located in the upper slits of the SRRs, so that these areas become
very sensitive to changes in the dielectric environment. Since the electric field distributions
in the slits of the second and the third SRRs are much stronger than the others, to further
30 Wave Propagation

investigate the potential application of the stacked SRRs in dielectric sensing, thickness of
the SRRs is increased to 0.1mm, and testing samples are located in upper slits the second
and the third SRRs. Simulation results of transmission coefficients for a variation of sample
permittivity are shown in Fig. 22.

Fig. 21. Electric field distribuiton in the vicinity of the four SRRs. (a) The first SRR layer
(x=-0.734 mm). (b) The second SRR layer (x=0.515 mm). (c) The third SRR layer
(x=1.765 mm). (d) The fourth SRR layer (x=3.014 mm)

0.9

0.8

0.7
S21

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3
8.4 8.6 8.8 9
Frequency(GHz)
Fig. 22. Transmission coefficient as a function of frequency for a variation of sample
permittivity. From right to the left, the curves are corresponding to dielectric sample with
permittivity of 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 and 3.5, respectively
In conclusion, when the stacked SRRs are located in the waveguide, sample permittivity
varies linearly with the frequency shift of the transmission coefficient. Although the periodic
structures of SRRs (Lee et al, 2006; Melik et al, 2009; Papasimakis et al, 2010) have been used
for biosensing and telemetric sensing of surface strains, etc. The above simulation results
demonstrate that the stacked SRRs can also be used in dielectric sensing.
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 31

6. Open resonator using metamaterials

6.1 Open microwave resonator
For the model shown in Fig. 23, suppose the incident electric field is polarized
K K
perpendicular to the plane of incidence, that is, E (i ) = E (i )e y , then the incident, reflected, and
refracted (transmitted) field can be obtained as

Fig. 23. Snell’s law for n1 > 0 and n2 > 0 (real line). The dashed line for n1 > 0 and n2 < 0

E0(t ) 2n1 cos φ1 / μ1

(i )
= (25)
E0 n1 cos φ1 / μ1 + n2 (1 − n12 sin 2 φ1 / n22 )1/ 2 / μ2

E0( r ) n1 cos φ1 / μ1 − n2 (1 − n12 sin 2 φ1 / n22 )1/ 2 / μ2

= (26)
E0(i ) n1 cos φ1 / μ1 + n2 (1 − n12 sin 2 φ1 / n22 )1/ 2 / μ2

where E0(t ) , E0( r ) and E0(i ) are the amplitudes of the transmitted, reflected, and the incident
electric fields, respectively. Provided that (n12 / n22 )sin 2 φ1 < 1 , the above formulas are valid for
positive as well as negative index midia. For (n12 / n22 )sin 2 φ1 > 1 , the expression

(1 − n12 sin 2 φ1 / n22 )1/ 2 = ± j (n12 sin 2 φ1 / n22 − 1)1/ 2 . (27)

The − sign is chosen because the transmitted field must not diverge at infinity for n2 > 0 .
The + sign is chosen for n2 < 0 . If n1 > 0 and n2 < 0 and if ε 2 = −ε1 and μ 2 = − μ1 , then
E0r = 0 . This means that there is no reflected field. Some interesting scenario shown in Fig.
24 can be envisioned. Fig. 24(a) illustrates the mirror-inverted imaging effect. Due to the
exist of many closed optical paths running across the four interfaces, an open cavity is
formed as shown in Fig. 24(b), although there is no reflecting wall surrounding the cavity.

Fig. 24. (a)Mirror-inverted imaging effect. (b) Formation of an open cavity

32 Wave Propagation

As shown in Fig. 25(a), the open microwave resonator consists of two homogenous
metamaterial squares in air. Its resonating modes are calculated using eigenfrequency
model of the software COMSOL. Fig.25 (b) shows the mode around the frequency of
260MHz. It is in agreement with the even mode reported by He et al. (He et al, 2005). In the
simulation, scattering boundary condition is added to the outer boundary to model the open
resonating cavity. From Fig. 25(b), it is seen that electric field distribution is confined to the
tip point of the two metamaterial squares. Therefore, it will be very sensitive in dielectric
environment. The dependence of resonant frequency on the permittivity of dielectric
environment is shown in Table 2. It is seen that when the permittivity changes from 1 to
1+10-8, the variation of resonate frequency is about 14KHz. The variation of resonant
frequency can be easily detected using traditional measuring technique. Therefore, the open
cavity based on metamaterials possesses high sensitivity, and it has potential application for
biosensors.

Fig. 25. (a) A subwavelength open resonator consisting of two homogenous metamaterial
squares in air. (b) The electric field (Ez) distribution for (a)

Frequency(MHz) 260.481 260.467 260.336 259.794 255.372 240.485

Permittivity 1 1+10-8 1+10-7 1+5x10-7 1+10-6 1+5x10-6
Table 2. The relation between resonate frequency and environment permittivity
The open resonator using metamaterials was first suggested and analyzed by Notomi
(Notomi, 2000), which is based on the ray theory. Later, He et al. used the FDTD to calculate
resonating modes of the open cavity.

6.2 Microcavity resonator

Fig. 26(a) shows a typical geometry of a microcavity ring resonator (Hagness et al, 1997).
The two tangential straight waveguides serve as evanescent wave input and output
couplers. The coupling efficiency between the waveguides and the ring is controlled by the
size, g, of the air gap, the surrounding medium and the ring outer diameter, d, which affects
the coupling interaction length. The width of WG1, WG2 and microring waveguide is
0.3μm. The straight waveguide support only one symmetric and one antisymmetric mode at
λ = 1.5 μm. Fig. 26(b) is the geometry of the microcavity ring when a layer of metamaterials
(the grey region) is added to the outside of the ring. The refractive index of the
metamaterials is n=-1.
Fig. 27 is the visualization of snapshots in time of the FDTD computed field as the pulse first
(t=10fs) couples into the microring cavity and completes one round trip(t=220fs). When
refractive index of the surounding medium varies from 1 to 1.3, the spectra are calculated,
Microwave Sensor Using Metamaterials 33

Fig. 26. (a) The schematic of a microcavity ring resonator coupled to two straight
waveguides. (b) A metamaterial ring (the grey region) is added to the out side of the
microring. d=5.0μm, g=0.23μm, r=0.3μm, the thickness of the metamaterials is r/3

Fig. 27. Visualization of the initial coupling and circulation of the exciting pulse around the
microring cavity resonators

Fig. 28. Spectra for the surrounding medium with different refractive index. (a) Results for
the microring cavity without metamaterial layer. (b)Results for the microring cavity with
metamaterial layer
34 Wave Propagation

as shown in Fig. 28. From Fig. 28(a), it is seen that the resonance peak of the microring cavity
without metamaterial layer is highly dependent on the refractive index of the surrounding
medium, and it is red shifted with the increase of refractive index. From Fig. 28(b) we can
clear observe that the resonance peaks are shifted to the high frequency side when
metamaterial layer is added to the outside of the microring ring resonator. Meanwhile, the
peak value increases with the increase of the refractive index of surrounding medium.
Due to its characteristics of high Q factor, wide free spectral-range, microcavity can be used
in the field of identification and monitoring of proteins, DNA, peptides, toxin molecules,
and nanoparticle, etc. It has attracted extensive attention world wide, and more details
about microcavity can be found in the original work of Quan and Zhu et al (Quan et al, 2005;
Zhu et al, 2009).

7. Conclusion
It has been demonstrated that the evanescent wave can be amplified by the metamaterials.
This unique property is helpful for enhancing the sensitivity of sensor, and can realize
subwavelength resolution of image and detection beyond diffraction limit. Enhancement of
sensitivity in slab waveguide with TM mode is proved analytically. The phenomenon of
evanescent wave amplification is confirmed in slab waveguide and slab lens. The perfect
imaging properties of planar lens was proved by transmission optics. Microwave sensors
based on the waveguide filled with metamaterial particles are simulated, and their
sensitivity is much higher than traditional microwave sensor. The open microwave
resonator consists of two homogenous metamaterial squares is very sensitive to dielectric
environment. The microcavity ring resonator with metamaterial layer possesses some new
properties.
Metamaterials increases the designing flexibility of sensors, and dramatically improves their
performance. Sensors using metamaterials may hope to fuel the revolution of sensing
technology.

8. Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no.
60861002), the Research Foundation from Ministry of Education of China (grant no. 208133),
and the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province (grant no.2007F005M).

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