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This article explains the frequency limitation in designing microstrip circuits based on a complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) and reports a novel technique for increasing its operating frequency, which makes the CSRR suitable for high-frequency applications. This study helps in synthesizing the dimensions of symmetric CSRR (SCSRR) and asymmetric CSRR (ACSRR) circuits, which shows the applicability of the proposed technique in designing mm-wave circuits. It is observed that the upper frequency limit of the microstrip-coupled SCSRR is mainly due to weak electric coupling. The weak coupling implicates radiation loss in the structure, and the frequency at which the SCSRR has maximum loss due to radiation is found to be much less than the cutoff frequency of the higher order mode of the microstrip line, thus effectively limiting the operating frequency range of the circuit. In this article, the type of coupling and associated electrical parameters, e.g., reflected power, transmitted power, radiated power, losses, quality factor, voltage standing wave ratio, and gain, are investigated in detail. The allowable bandwidth of the fundamental mode of the microstrip line can be utilized to design CSRR with improved coupling. It is found that the ACSRR enhances the coupling coefficient using the cross-coupling effect. At higher frequencies, where the electric coupling is becoming too weak for the SCSRR, it is possible to design a magnetically coupled ACSRR of the same dimensions as the SCSRR. Finally, the design profile for both the SCSRR and ACSRR is studied in detail, and the radiating condition is discussed as a function of the height and dielectric constant of the substrate. For practical-verification purposes, two circuit prototypes are fabricated on a 1.5-mm-thick Rogers RT5880 substrate, and the measured results are found to be in good agreement with the proposition. It is found that, for a given microwave substrate, the maximum allowable resonating frequency of the ACSRR structure is nearly twice that of the SCSRR structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an attractive resonant technique is devised for calculating the dielectric properties of arbitrary length material under test (ALMUT), which is partially filled inside a waveguide cavity sensor. The proposed technique exempts two major assumptions viz. the depolarization effect and the theory of images, which were neglected in earlier cavity perturbation methods. A numerical model of the depolarizing factor, which precisely considers the impact of the relative permittivity and the sinusoidal variation of the electric field, is also formulated. First, the technical modification and the numerical analysis are provided and after that, a new set of formulas for characterizing the complex permittivity of ALMUT is developed. The numerical results suggest the accuracy and validity of the scheme for a broad range of dielectric samples, including the typical case, i.e., the full-length dielectric sample. The novelty of the presented technique can be ascertained from the fact that it provides higher accuracy irrespective of the actual sample length when compared with standard cavity techniques. A few standard dielectric samples with the partially filled arrangement are measured using the WR90 cavity, and the results are compared with their corresponding values obtained using the earlier reported conventional and modified techniques. It is found that the results evaluated using the devised scheme are consistent and independent of the actual dimensions of ALMUT. On the other hand, error in estimated complex permittivity using the earlier reported approaches shows substantial dependence on the sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel sensor for detecting and measuring angular rotation and proximity, intended for rapid prototyping machines. The sensor is based on a complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) driven by a conductor-backed coplanar waveguide (CBCPW). The sensor has a planar topology, which makes it simple and cost-effective to produce and accurate in measuring both physical quantities. The sensor has two components, a rotor and a stator: the first of these (the CSRR) can rotate around its axis and translate along the plane normal to the ground of the CBCPW. A detailed theoretical and numerical analysis, along with a circuit model, of the unique sensor design is presented. The proposed sensor exhibits linear response for measuring angular rotation and proximity in the range of 30°–60° and 0–200 μm, respectively. Another distinctive feature of the rotation and proximity sensor is the wide frequency band of applicability, which is an integral part of its novel design and is implemented through various dielectric material loadings on the CSRR. In the prototype of the proposed device, the stator (CBCPW) is fabricated on a 0.508-mm-thick RF-35 substrate, whereas the CSRR-based rotor is fabricated on TLY-5 and RF-35 substrates. The angular rotation, proximity, operating band selection, and sensitivity are measured using a vector network analyzer and are found to be good matches to the simulated and theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a technique based on a modified complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) to detect angular displacement and direction of rotation with high resolution and sensitivity over a wide dynamic range. The proposed microwave planar sensor takes advantage of the asymmetry of the sensor geometry and measures the angle of rotation in terms of the change in the relative phase of the reflection coefficients. The sensor consists of a movable modified CSRR (the rotor) and a microstrip line with a circular defect in the ground plane (the stator). By selecting the substrate material and the rotor thickness, the sensor can be designed to work at different operating frequencies. A theoretical model of the sensor is proposed and is followed by a detailed numerical analysis involving equivalent circuit simulations, full-wave computations, and measurement results. Using positioning error estimation and air-gap analysis, a technique based on phase-change measurements is found to be better than those based on magnitude measurements alone. The maximum sensitivity for measuring the angular rotation is found to be a 4.3° change in the relative phase of the reflection coefficient per 1° of rotation. The sensor has an angular measurement range from −90° to +90°. The sensor—a stator fabricated on a 0.5-mm-thick Rogers RT5880 substrate and three rotors fabricated on a 1.5-mm-thick Rogers RT5880, a 1-mm-thick FR4, and a 0.5-mm-thick Rogers RT5880—can effectively detect the direction of rotation, measure the angle of rotation and angular velocity with reasonable accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, Ka-band radars are opted for cloud studies as the radar signal at this frequency gets attenuated during rainy condition. In this work, an attenuation-based method is used to estimate the layer-averaged rain rate from vertically pointing Ka-band radar deployed at Mandhardev (18.04 °N, 73.87 °E, ∼1.3 km AMSL), a remote station in the hill-top of Western Ghats, India. At Ka-band, the rain rate retrieval depends on the linear relation between specific attenuation coefficient and rain rate. The specific attenuation coefficient is calculated from T-matrix scattering simulation performed at Ka-band frequency using the Joss–Waldvogel disdrometer (JWD) raindrop data. The radar retrieved rain rates for 0.5- and 1-km rain layer depths are evaluated with the collocated JWD rain rate measurements. The rain rates retrieved from 1-km rain layer depth shows higher correlation, 0.75, and small bias, 2.36 mm h–1, compared to 0.72 and 3.65 mm h–1, respectively, for 0.5-km rain layer depth retrievals. Further, the vertical profiles of rain rate are constructed for both 0.5- and 1-km rain layer depths. It is observed that the retrieval error decreases, with an increase in rain rates. The good comparison of the rain rate between the radar and the JWD validates the possibility of using cloud radar observations for the retrieval of the rain rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust cavity technique is proposed to quite accurately measure the complex permeability of the magnetic materials, which gives promising results for arbitrary length samples. This technique takes into account many factors such as magnetic field correction inside the sample under test, the effect of demagnetization, and the image theory, which was not considered in past. In this paper, a numerical model of the magnetometric demagnetization factor is developed, which precisely considers the effects of the relative permeability of sample and the nonuniform magnetic field over sample volume. The sensitivity of proposed technique is better than conventional and recently modified technique assuming arbitrary length sample. The proposed scheme typically provides 98% accurate result for the sample length greater than $0.15\times $ the width of the rectangular cavity. The proposed method is quite novel and can be appreciated due to the fact that it gives higher accuracy for all the cases when compared with other standard cavity techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an attractive multi-band RF planar sensor, suitable for non-destructive testing of dispersive materials, is proposed. The proposed sensor is based on a number of complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) unit cells etched in the ground plane of the microstrip line. Each CSRR unit cell can be represented by a narrow band reject filter with its center frequency corresponding to the resonant frequency of the respective CSRR cell. The proposed technique is used to design the two, three and four band microwave sensors operating at 1.5 GHz, 2.45 GHz, 3.8 GHz, and 5.8 GHz. The distance between the two adjoining CSRRs is minimized for each case without appreciably increasing the inter-cell coupling effect. The transcendental equations required for determining the complex permittivity of the material under test in terms of the resonant frequency are derived from the numerical data obtained using the electromagnetic solver, the CST studio. These numerical equations are then used to obtain the dielectric properties of various test samples, which are measured using the vector network analyzer. The detailed air gap analysis is also performed for checking the accuracy of the designed planar sensor under the real situation. The proposed sensors are fabricated on 0.8 mm thick FR4 substrates using the standard photolithography technique. A number of standard samples are tested using the fabricated sensors in multiple frequency bands, and a good agreement between the obtained results and the data available in literature shows the applicability of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the improved planar resonant sensors based on the generalized split ring resonator (SRR) configuration are proposed for the permittivity and the permeability testing of magneto-dielectric samples. It is observed that the proposed inter-digital capacitor-based SRR and the meandered line-based SRR provide better sensitivity for dielectric and magnetic measurement, respectively, when compared with the standard SRR-based microwave sensors. Both the sensors are first modeled under unloaded condition, using the full wave electromagnetic solver, the CST Microwave Studio, in order to ensure their operating frequency range near 2.45 GHz of industrial, scientific and medical band. In the next step, the numerical simulation of these sensors is carried out by loading them with a number of reference materials in order to develop empirical model for the determination of permittivity and permeability of test samples. Additionally, the equivalent circuit models of these sensors are obtained using the Advanced Design System circuit simulator and results are compared with the numerical simulation. All the sensors are designed and fabricated on 1.27-mm-thick RT/Duroid 6006 substrate, and testing is carried out using the network analyzer. A number of standard dielectric and magneto-dielectric samples are tested using the proposed scheme in order to retrieve their permittivity and permeability values. The measured data of each sample are in good match with the corresponding reference values available in literature having a typical error of less than 6%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, an attractive time-domain RF imaging technique is proposed for online monitoring of moving objects over conveyor belts. The proposed technique combines the strength of the time-domain approach and the Riccati equation-based ultrawideband reconstruction method in order to image the stratified lossy dielectric medium. The applicability of the proposed method is first tested under stationary condition by reconstructing the permittivity and conductivity image of the target area comprising of various standard samples placed in free space. For moving objects under real-world scenario, two antenna arrays comprised of ultra-wideband Vivaldi elements are designed and tested. These arrays are then employed to produce the 2-D microwave image of various wooden-based samples and human mannequins carrying metal object concealed behind the cloth. The obtained real-time microwave image of the test medium shows that the proposed RF imaging technique is best suited for online monitoring of stationary as well as moving targets, where the structural as well as the electrical properties of the test medium can be obtained through a nondestructive process without using any iterative scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This letter presents a novel microwave-based rotation sensor having a wide dynamic range to detect and measure the angular displacement in terms of the change in resonant frequency. The proposed sensor is based on the microstrip technology, where a rotor comprised of a complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) placed on the ground plane of the microstrip line is free to rotate around its axis. The mechanical rotation of CSRR determines a change in the cross coupling between the microstrip line and the CSRR, thus changing the overall inductance. The proposed planar unloaded microwave sensor, working around ISM band of 5.8 GHz, is quite sensitive to detect angular rotation in the wide dynamic range of 0°–90°. The linearity in dynamic range is achieved in the range of 30°–60°. Operating frequency and bandwidth can be adjusted by loading the rotor with dielectric. Depending on the type of dielectric loading of CSRR, it is possible to select the center frequency from a wide range of 4.67–5.94 GHz, with the bandwidth ranging from 116 to 250 MHz. Due to its features, the proposed sensor can be useful for various industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel microwave noninvasive planar sensor based on the complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) is proposed for an accurate measurement of the complex permittivity of materials. The CSRR is etched in the ground plane of the planar microstrip line. Two CSRRs of rectangular and circular cross-sections are chosen for the sensitivity analysis, where the later is found to possess higher sensitivity and hence appears to be more appropriate for the sensor design. At resonance, the electric field induced along the plane of CSRR is found to be quite sensitive for the characterization of specimen kept in contact with the sensor. A numerical model is developed here for the calculation of the complex permittivity as a function of resonant frequency and the quality factor data using the electromagnetic simulator, the Computer Simulation Technology. For practical applications, a detailed air gap analysis is carried out to consider the effect of any air gap present between the test sample and the CSRR. The designed sensor is fabricated and tested, and accordingly the numerically established relations are experimentally verified for various reference samples e.g., teflon, polyvinyl chloride, plexiglas, polyethylene, rubber, and wood. Experimentally, it is found that the permittivity measurement using the proposed sensor is possible with a typical error of 3%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The applications of magnetic composites in electromagnetic shielding, resonance imaging, and biomedical drug research are growing rapidly. Therefore, there is a huge demand to characterize these materials in order to obtain their dielectric and magnetic properties in the microwave frequency range. In this paper, a novel rectangular cavity method is proposed to obtain the complex permeability and permittivity of the test sample placed in the $E$ -plane of the rectangular cavity. The proposed method eliminates the need of physical relocation of a specimen in the $H$ -plane, which is usually required in the case of presently available methods to characterize the magnetic samples. The closed-form formula for this unified approach is developed from the first principle, and is later modified to consider some practical consideration. The proposed method is first numerically tested and verified for various standard samples, where the data are taken from the literature. Thereafter, the $X$ -band rectangular cavity is designed and fabricated to measure a number of available samples. The significance of the proposed approach can be appreciated from the fact that even for finite-size samples, the permeability and permittivity can be extracted with the typical errors of 5% and 2%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel planar multilayered epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) tunnel sensor based on fully laminated surface integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is proposed for the microwave measurement of dispersive materials. The proposed sensor is designed and optimized using parametric analysis to obtain the multilayered ENZ tunnel dimensions. It is observed that the width of the upper tunnel of the designed two-tunnel sensor should be at least half of the SIW width of the actual SIW structure for the multiband operation. The complex permittivity measurement using the proposed sensor is possible at two frequencies with a single set of measurement data. The proposed method is based on perturbation of the squeezed electric field having constant magnitude and high intensity inside the multilayered ENZ tunnel, which eventually increases the sensitivity of the proposed sensor. The sensitivity and accuracy of the proposed sensor are tested using both the simulated and the experimented data. It is found that the proposed sensor is highly sensitive, and typically demonstrates 6% error under ideal conditions, thus making it a good candidate for the microwave measurement of dispersive materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved rectangular cavity (RC) approach is proposed for the accurate complex permeability determination of materials in the microwave frequency band. The proposed approach assumes the bar-shaped magnetic specimen to be placed along the width of the cavity to increase the sensitivity of the measurement. A generalized closed-form formula is derived accordingly to determine the complex permeability of these bar-shaped samples in terms of the cavity parameters measured under both loaded and unloaded conditions. The proposed formula is found to improve the accuracy of the original RC approach where samples are placed in the $H$ -plane traversing the maximum width of the cavity for permeability measurement. The improvement in accuracy is facilitated by considering the sinusoidal magnetic field variation over the test sample, which is otherwise neglected in most of the earlier approaches. The modified formula is numerically tested for a number of samples having wide range of permeability variations, and the obtained results are typically 40% more accurate than the values obtained using the original formula. Finally, the synthesized magnetic samples, viz., the carbonyl iron-epoxy composite and the manganese ferrite, are measured by placing them inside the fabricated X-band cavity with the help of a vector network analyzer. The proposed approach is quite advantageous for magnetic materials as finite-size samples having sample to cavity volume ratio of less than 3e-3 can be characterized quite accurately with typical errors of 2% and 3% in the real and imaginary parts of the complex permeability, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel split-ring resonator (SRR)-based microwave sensor for accurately determining the real parts of the complex permittivity and the complex permeability of magnetodielectric composites is proposed. The proposed sensor is realized using the microstrip technology, where two SRRs coupled magnetically with the microstrip line are printed on two sides of the line. The sensor is designed using the full-wave electromagnetic solver and its equivalent circuit model is obtained. A numerical model of the proposed sensor is developed for extracting the magnetic and the dielectric properties of the sample under test in terms of change in resonance frequency after loading the device with the test specimen. The proposed methodology is validated by fabricating the sensor on RT/duroid 6006 substrate and testing various standard dielectric and magnetodielectric samples viz. Teflon, Poly vinyl chloride, Plexiglas, Polyethylene, Carbonyl iron, Ni0.6Co0.4Fe2O4, and Cobalt (30%)/Polystyrene composite in S-band. The measured relative permeability and the relative permittivity of the test specimens are found to be in close agreement with their values available in literature with maximum error of less than 8%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel cavity-based unified approach to measure the complex permittivity of dielectric samples placed in the E-plane of a rectangular cavity is presented. The proposed generalized cavity method is not limited to test specimens of smaller electrical dimensions, and requires two basic steps. The first step modifies the conventional cavity perturbation technique, where the effects of possible air gap between the cavity slot and the test specimen are also considered. The second step of the proposed approach employs a numerical optimization scheme, where the actual 3-D geometry of the fabricated cavity is simulated using the numerical field simulator, the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio. The dielectric properties of the test specimen in this case are determined with the help of a MATLAB-based optimization routine, which calls the CST modules over the component object model interface and minimizes the error between the measured and the simulated scattering coefficients. The permittivity of the test specimen determined using the first step is provided as the initial guess to improve the convergence of the numerical optimization scheme. The proposed unified approach is validated by designing two rectangular cavities having different slot sizes operating in the TE107 mode. A number of standard dielectric samples are measured with the help of a vector network analyzer, and a very good agreement is observed between the measured permittivity values and the published data available in the literature having a typical error of less than 2% for samples of even larger dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]