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Optical surface plasmon resonance sensors have been known for a long time. In this paper, we discuss the use of metamaterials to construct a surface plasmon sensor which can be used at microwave frequencies. We review the conditions for the existence of surface plasmon and the use of the forward and backward surface waves. A sharp dip in the reflection coefficient occurs when the propagation constant of the incident wave along the surface is nearly equal to the propagation constant of the plasmon surface wave and may be used to probe bulk material characteristics or to determine metamaterial characteristics. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the basic characteristics.

This paper presents a quasi-static analysis of a metama- terial consisting of a three-dimensional array of small tunable stacked split ring resonators (SSRRs). The resonance frequency of the pro- posed resonator structure can be controlled by adjusting the auxiliary lumped elements which are inserted between the split of each ring. In addition, the size of the ring resonator can be reduced to an order of 0.01λ that is one tenth that of the split ring resonator (SRR) by choosing the proper lumped elements. The analysis is based on the quasi-static Lorentz theory, and the generalized matrix representation of the macroscopic constitutive relations of the composite medium is calculated.