CHAPTER 3

A Planar Microstrip Metamaterial Resonator using Split Ring Dual at Ku-

Band

3.1 Design Methodology Overview:

The methodology includes calculation (approximate) of the basic dimensions and
parameters using the corresponding formula. The designed structure is then simulated
using a simulation tool and compared with the theoretical results. The structure is
optimized to meet the theoretical results and then simulated again to achieve the desired
results. Then analysis is done on the overall results. An overview of design methodology
used for this project is presented below in figure 3.1.

Calculations,
Design

Analysis Simulations

Design
Simulations
optimization

Figure 3.10 Design Methodology

3.2 Metamaterial Unit Cell:

The metamaterial designed in this project is a Left Handed Material(LHM). The
properties of LHM's can be described in terms of its unit cell. Since LHM's are composites

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 Design of ISM Structure

their properties are not determined by the physical properties of their constituent elements
but by their shape and arrangement. Over the years many metamaterials or LHM
structures have been introduced, however the fundamental concepts, the theory of the
structure and its properties is very important. The properties of MTM unit cell determines
whether the resulting material will show LHM behavior in the required frequency band.

This chapter presents design and simulation of a new planar microstrip

metamaterial resonator, exhibiting negative index of refraction. In comparison to the
papers cited, the novelty of the work presented here lies in the unit cell design, where two
edge coupled circular split-ring resonators are connected to form the infinity symbol and
an array of straight wire conductors is also used. The overall size of the metamaterial unit
is very small 6mm x 8mm. Since the geometry of the structure resembles the shape of
mathematical symbol infinity it will be referred to as Infinity Shaped Metamaterial
(ISM) from here on. The structure is simulated using Ansys HFSS and the extracted s-
parameter values (S11 and S21) are analyzed to calculate index of refraction. Results
promises a bandwidth of around 8GHz (~8.5-16.5GHz).

Many researchers have done analysis of SRR unit cells and SRR arrays, and shown
that SRRs behave as LC resonators that can be excited by external magnetic flux. The
analysis of SRRs by accurate circuit models, can be effectively used to estimate the
behavior of SRR structures in a simple, efficient manner. Also, explicit relationships
between electrical parameters, dimensions of the SRR structure and its frequency
dependent transmission/reflection behavior may be found.

A method for analysis of Metamaterial unit cell; called NRW technique Suganthi
et al. [48] is also used to calculate effective permittivity and effective permeability from s-
parameters, using which refractive index can be calculated. The results obtained from all
techniques are compared and found in satisfactory agreement with each other.

3.2.1 Design of Metamaterial Unit Cell

The design of Metamaterial begins with the design of a unit cell structure.
According to studies by J.B. Pendry[8], magnetic resonance with negative permeability
can be obtained using single or double-ring SRR. Figure 3.2(i)&(ii) below shows 1D
Circular and Square Split-Ring Resonators respectively.

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(a) (b)
Figure 3.11 (a) A Circular (b) A Square Split-Ring Resonator Structures (SRR)
A comparative study of different metamaterial structure as antenna substrate was done by
Wu[37], it included 1-D Split Ring structure, Symmetrical Ring structure, Omega
structure and S structure. These structures are shown in Chapter 2.
The metamaterial designed in this project is a composite of SRR and strip wires.
The unit cell of the designed metamaterial is shown below in Figure 3.3(i)&(ii).

(a)

r
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(ii)

Figure 3.12 Structure of Infinity Shaped Metamaterial (ISM) (i) SRR (ii) Strip Wires
It is designed by connecting traces of two SRRs in edge coupled configuration in
the shape of mathematical symbol infinity, printed on Foam (Dielectric constant 1.1).
This structure behaves as 2 SRR's connected in series. On the other side of the substrate
two metallic strip wires are printed, that behaves as the ground plane, the unit cell uses
array of straight wire conductors instead of a continuous sheet of copper which contributes
to electrical resonance [7]. In this manner both magnetic as well as electrical resonance
can be achieved in a single structure.
According to M.Kafesaki[38], the optimum position of strip wire should be just
behind the gap in SRR, on the opposite side of the substrate. This position give a robust
LH transmission, because of the fields generated due to interaction between SRRs and
strip wires. Also, when the SRR and strip wire are on opposite sides of the substrate, there
is a little overlap between their magnetic fields, so the behavior of each component is not
significantly affected by the presence of the other.
On the other hand, if the thickness of the substrate is reduced, it will enhance the
strength of the total resonance (increase the plasma frequency), increasing the value of
negative permittivity as well as negative permeability. So, reducing the thickness of the
substrate allows the behavior of the structure to make transition from RHM to LHM
behavior [37].
Plasma frequency of metals is usually in THz range, to bring the plasma frequency
down to a lower value Pendry suggested a structure composed of an array of thin metallic
wires. The radii of the wires and the distance between them to bring the plasma frequency
down and near the target frequency i.e. 17 GHz are calculated according to the formulae
given by J.B. Pendry [7] as listed below:

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= ...........................................................3.1
( )

where p is plasma frequency, a is the distance between the wires, r is the radius of the
wire, c0 is the velocity of light. By assuming the radius (width in present case of
rectangular strip) of wire to be 0.1mm, the optimized value of 'a' for p ~17 GHz comes
out to be 3.8mm.

Similarly the dimensions of the split rings are calculated according to the formulae
given by Pendry in [8] listed below:

The frequency at which eff diverges is defined as o and is given as

= .................................................................3.2

and the magnetic plasma frequency 'mp' is given as

= ..........................................................3.3
( )

where r is the average radius of SRR, a is the distance between 2 SRRs, d is the separation
between inner and outer rings (in case of two concentric SRRs). In case of ISM there are
no concentric SRRs, so the value of d is taken to be 0.2mm which is the difference
between outer and inner radius of SRR.

Since the distance between the wire array is already calculated and optimized, the
distance between the split rings is kept same as that. The optimized average radius of the
split ring is taken to be 1.9mm. For these dimensions of the split rings, the magnetic
plasma frequency mp and the frequency o comes out to be 21.6GHz and 6.3GHz
respectively. The value of eff for frequencies between these two is found to be negative.

As suggested by J.B. Pendry[8], for analysis of the metamaterial unit cell, the
electric field should be parallel to the wires while the magnetic field should be
perpendicular to the SRR, to retrieve the scattering parameters the radiation setup of the
structure is done in an air filled waveguide. The electric (PEC) & magnetic (PMC) fields
are defined over the walls of the waveguide in such a manner that the aforementioned
conditions are satisfied, and is shown below in Figure 3.4.

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H k

Figure 3.13 Schematic Diagram of ISM, Showing the Boundary Conditions: PEC &
PMC Boundaries Respectively.
The structure is fed RF signals ranging from 5GHz to 18 GHz, with the help of
wave-ports. The dimensions of the unit cell including the radius of the SRR, thickness of
the substrate, width of the strip wires, width of the gap in SRR, all plays a critical role in
achieving the negative characteristics in the desired frequency regime. All these
dimensions are optimized for obtaining correct results. The optimized physical parameters
of the structure are mentioned in Table 3.1.

Table 3.2 Parameter Table

Parameters Values
Substrate (Foam) with Thickness 0.787 mm
Relative dielectric constant 1.1
Radius of outer circle of the ring 2 mm
Radius of inner circle of the ring 1.8 mm
Width of split/Width of wire conductor 0.2 mm
Distance between the wires 3.8 mm
Width of Split in SRR 0.2 mm
Thus, the proposed structure ISM is a composite of Split-rings and array of wires, both
components are required to obtain negative effective permittivity and negative effective
permeability in a single structure.

3.2.2 Two port equivalent circuit model of ISM

The simplified two-port equivalent circuit representation suggested for ISM unit
cell is shown in Figure 3.5, where L is the self-inductance of the metal loop, which can be

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 Design of ISM Structure

computed by the expressions given by Labidi[39]. The model parameter C is the

capacitance computed for split ring calculated as

= + ......................................................................3.4

where Cpp and Cs are parallel plate and surface capacitances, respectively. The resonant
frequency of the structure can be calculated by =1 . For simplicity of design
2
and calculations the effect of coupling between metallic strips used as ground and SRRs is
neglected, similarly the effect of mutual coupling between the two SRRs connected to
form 'infinity' is also neglected. Since the two metallic traces are connected together in
series w.r.t the feeding, the current flowing in two rings must combine additively in the
area common to both the rings. The same is verified by plotting the distribution of current
over the metallic rings using HFSS, and is shown in Figure 3.6

Figure 3.14 Simplified Equivalent Circuit of ISM Unit Cell

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Figure 3.15 Distribution of Current Over the Metallic Rings, also Showing the
Addition of Current in the Area Common to Both Rings.
The electrical parameters of the model are computed as:

= + 0.9 + 0.2 ..........................................3.5

where, L represents the inductance of SRR, g represents the width of the split, and r is the
average or mean radius.

To calculate the total capacitance, a simple analytical approximate expression may be

used. First, the surface capacitance is determined analytically by using analytical
expressions for the electric field of a split-ring, and is given by Labidi et al.[39]:

( )
= ..........................................................3.6

where, Cs is the surface capacitance, 0 permittivity of free space, w represents the

width of the metallic split ring, t thickness of the metal used for split ring, ri inner radius of
the split ring, and g width of the split.

Secondly, the gap capacitance or parallel plate capacitance of the split is computed as:

= ....................................................................3.7

where Cpp is the parallel plate capacitance (of the split), r relative permittivity, A is
area of the plate of capacitor (here = ). Using the above formulae, the value of
inductance and capacitance is calculated, and the resonant frequency using these values
comes out to be ~17GHz.

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3.3 Design of Metamaterial Array

After analyzing and optimizing the ISM unit cell, a linear array of ISM unit cells is
designed for the target frequency. To design the array, optimized ISM unit cell was
duplicated and positioned with zero distance between two elements to form a periodic
structure; an array of 1x10 elements.

Initially a linear array of 2 elements (shown in Figure 3.7(i)) was developed and
analyzed to observe the effects of coupling, the coupling effects between two ISM unit
cells can be described by a parallel LC circuit in the shunt branch. This coupling LC
circuit is connected in series between two ISM blocks. The coupling parameters Cm and
Lm can be computed by similar approaches used for the computation of the parameters C
and L mentioned previously. The effect of mutual coupling between two ISM elements
was found to be too small, and had a very little effect on the resonant frequency. Hence, it
was not considered here.

Similarly, a linear array of 10 elements was prepared to observe any deviation in

resonant frequency, Figure 3.7(ii) shows its structure. Simulation results for a linear array
of 2 elements or 10 elements shows that the shift in resonant frequency is too small to be
considered.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.16 Linear Array of (a) 2 ISM elements (b) 10 ISM Elements

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3.4 Simulation Results

The simulation result of Metamaterial unit cell and their analysis of the result is
presented in this section. The simulation result emphasizes on the LHM/ Negative Index
Medium Properties of the Metamaterial Unit Cell, LHM/ Negative Index Medium
Properties of the Metamaterial 1x2 and 1x10 Array as well as the analysis on each subject.

3.4.1 Simulation Results of ISM unit cell

The ISM structure was designed and simulated using EM solver Ansys HFSS.
With extracted s-parameter matrix, value of refractive index n and wave impedance z was
calculated using the following equations [2],[5].

= ........................................................3.8

( )
= ...............................................................3.9
( )

The value of effective permittivity and effective permeability then may be computed as
= / and = .

The condition Im{n}0 fix the choice for sign of 'n'. Similarly the condition Re{z}0 fixes
the choice for sign of 'z'. An improved parameter retrieval method given by Liu, Wang
[42] is as follows:

= .................................................................3.10

where, k is wave number, d is thickness of ISM unit cell.

We calculate z first, and then n can be calculated from Eq.(3.10). All of the above
formulae were programmed in MATLAB 2009a to obtain the required plots. Refractive
index versus frequency curve using Eq.(3.10) wave impedance using Eq.(3.9) are shown
in Figure 3.8 & Figure 3.9 below:

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40
Real(refractive index)
30 Imag(refractive index

20

10

-10

-20

-30

-40
1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66 1.68 1.7
10

(a)
20
impedance

15

10

-5
1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66 1.68 1.7
(b)
Figure 3.17 (a) Refractive Index, (b) Wave impedance versus Frequency in GHz
After calculating n and z, the value of effective permittivity and permeability was
computed and the graphs versus frequency are shown below:

(a)

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 Design of ISM Structure

60
permittivity
50

40

30

20

10

-10

-20

-30
1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66 1.68 1.7
(b) 10

Figure 3.18 (a) Effective Permittivity, (b) Effective Permeability versus Frequency in
GHz
The graphs above suggests metamaterial behavior of ISM at ~16.5 GHz. Although
the results above are calculated using well known techniques, one more technique, the
NRW parameter retrieval approach is also used in this paper to reinforce the results
already obtained. A separate MATLAB code was developed based on NRW approach to
find the medium properties using extracted S11 and S21 parameters. The results obtained
using NRW approach shown in Figure 3.10-Figure 3.12 are in satisfactory agreement with
those produced from Eq.(3.5)-(3.7) (shown in Figure 3.8-Figure 3.9). The eff and eff of
the medium are related to S-parameters by the equations (3.8) and (3.9) below[43]:

= .......................................................................3.8

= .......................................................................3.9

where k0 is a wave number equivalent to 2/0, d is the thickness of the substrate. V1 and
V2 can be obtained as

= + ....................................................................3.10

= ....................................................................3.11

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 Design of ISM Structure

After calculating eff and eff using above equations, refractive index 'n' can be computed
using:

= .................................................................3.12

Using MATLAB, graphs for effective permeability, effective permittivity, refractive index
versus frequency are plotted and are shown below in Figure 3.10- Figure3.12:

Figure 3.19 Effective Permeability versus Frequency in GHz

Figure 3.20 Effective Permittivity versus Frequency in GHz

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4
x 10
5
refractive index
4

-1

-2

-3
1.5 1.52 1.54 1.56 1.58 1.6 1.62 1.64 1.66 1.68 1.7
10
x 10
Figure 3.21 Refractive Index versus Frequency in GHz
Figure3.12 shows transition of refractive index from positive to negative values at
~16.5 GHz. The results obtained from HFSS for ISM unit cell also shows a dip in S11 with
S21 approximately 0dB at ~16.5GHz, suggesting that reflected power is minimum while
the transmitted power is maximum at this frequency, respectively.

The graph for S11 & S21 versus frequency is shown below in Figure 3.13:

XY Plot 2
0.00

Curve Inf o
dB(S(1,1))
Setup1 : Sw eep
-5.00
dB(S(2,1))
Setup1 : Sw eep

-10.00
Y1

-15.00

-20.00

-25.00

-30.00
15.00 15.25 15.50 15.75 16.00 16.25 16.50 16.75 17.00
Freq [GHz]

Figure 3.22 S11(Red), S21(Brown) in dB versus Frequency for ISM Unit Cell

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3.4.2 Simulation results of Metamaterial Array:

Simulation results for linear array of 1x2 ISM elements and 1x10 ISM elements are shown
below:
0.00

Curve Info
dB(S(1,1))
-2.50 Setup1 : Sw eep
dB(S(2,1))
Setup1 : Sw eep
-5.00

-7.50
Y1

-10.00

-12.50

-15.00

-17.50

-20.00
15.00 15.25 15.50 15.75 16.00 16.25 16.50 16.75 17.00
Freq [GHz]

Figure 3.23. S11(Red), S21(Brown) in dB versus Frequency for 1x2 Array ISM

In Figure 3.13 - Figure 3.14 the dip in value of S11(dB), shows the resonant
frequency of ISM unit cell and array of 1x2 ISM elements, respectively. The resonant
frequency in both the cases is 16.58 & 16.5 GHz, approximately same, showing that the
effect of creating the array is negligible and can be avoided . The graph below (Figure
3.15) shows the phase of S11 & S21(Radians) for ISM unit cell and its array. The phase of
S11 & S21 crosses each other and shows zero crossing at resonant frequency, which
suggests the presence of metamaterial property. Also, the metamaterial property was
preserved in case of linear array of 2 or more elements.
XY Plot 3
3.75 Curve Info
ang_rad(S(1,1))
Setup1 : Sw eep
ang_rad(S(2,1))
2.50 Setup1 : Sw eep

1.25
Y1 [rad]

0.00

-1.25

-2.50

-3.75
15.00 15.50 16.00 16.50 17.00 17.50 18.00
Freq [GHz]
(a)

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XY Plot 3 one x twodesign at 9 ANSOFT

1.50
Curve Info
ang_rad(S(1,1))
Setup1 : Sw eep
ang_rad(S(2,1))
1.00 Setup1 : Sw eep

0.50
Y1 [rad]

0.00

-0.50

-1.00

-1.50
15.00 15.50 16.00 16.50 17.00
Freq [GHz]
(b)
Figure 3.24 Phase of S11(Red), S21(Brown) in Radians for, (a) ISM Unit Cell, (b)
Array of 1x2 ISM Elements versus Frequency in GHz.

For further analysis a linear array of 10 elements was prepared to observe any
deviation in resonant frequency, Figure 3.16 shows the simulation results for a linear array
of 10 elements. From the results (Figure 3.16 (i)) it may be observed that the shift in
resonant frequency is too small to be considered.
XY Plot 1 ANSOFT
0.00

-12.50

-25.00
Y1

-37.50

-50.00

-62.50

-75.00
15.00 15.50 16.00 16.50 17.00 17.50 18.00
Freq [GHz]

(a)

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XY Plot 2
3.00
Curve Inf o
ang_rad(S(1,1))
Setup1 : Sw eep
ang_rad(S(2,1))
2.00 Setup1 : Sw eep

1.00
Y1 [rad]

0.00

-1.00

-2.00

-3.00
15.00 15.50 16.00 16.50 17.00 17.50 18.00
Freq [GHz]

(b)

Figure 3.25 Linear Array 10 elements, (i) S11(Red) &S21(Brown) in dB, (ii) Phase of
S11(Red),S21(Brown) in Radians.
The results obtained for a single ISM element, array of 1x2 ISM elements, and
array of 1x10 ISM elements, all are in good agreement with each other and shows
resonance around 16.5 GHz.

This chapter presents the design and simulation results of a metamaterial unit cell
and its array, the design is based on split ring resonators and rod structures. The results
verify negative index behavior and produces Lorentz type curves for metals.

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 CHAPTER 4

Analyzing the Performance of a Microstrip Patch Antenna with Metamaterial

Cover by Varying the Distance and Dielectric Constant In-Between

4.1 Introduction
A metamaterial slab applied as cover in front of a patch antenna focuses the
radiations from patch, reduces the beam-width thus enhances the Gain & Directivity.
Usually the slab is placed at quarter wave distance from the patch, this chapter focuses on
investigating the effects of varying this distance. Also, if a dielectric is placed in-between
metamaterial cover and patch antenna, the effects of changing the value of dielectric
constant are presented in this chapter.

The metamaterial under consideration is a modification of Pendrys SRR structure,

its unit cell is formed by connecting metallic traces of two edge coupled split ring
resonators to form the infinity symbol on one side of the substrate, and an array of
conducting wires on the other. The unit cells were arranged to form an array and an
investigation of S- parameters was done to check the negative index property. A
conventional patch antenna generally shows 3 dB beam-width of ~80deg and 5-6dB gain,
whereas the antenna presented in this chapter with the metamaterial cover shows improved
3dB beam-width of ~53 deg with gain more than 9dB.

In recent years extensive work has been focused on the use of metamaterials for
improving the performance of conventional patch antennas [26-28,40-45,48-54]. A
microstrip patch antenna (MPA) is a simple structure consisting of a radiating patch
printed on one side of a dielectric substrate and ground plane on the other. The MPA
offers numerous advantages for various applications which include low weight, small
volume and ease of fabrication. However these suffer from disadvantages like narrow

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bandwidth, lower gain and broad beam-width as compared to conventional microwave

antennas.

Metamaterials can be used for improving the directivity, radiated power,

bandwidth and overall performance of the conventional patch antennas. In this chapter unit
cells of the metamaterial structure are arranged as an array, so that it may be used as a
cover for focusing the radiations from Patch, reducing the 3 dB beam-width at 6GHz.

The design of metamaterial unit cell is given in Chapter 3. The operating frequency
of the metamaterial is 16.5GHz, in this Chapter it is brought down to 6 GHz. To bring the
operating frequency down, 2 layers of the same metamaterial are stacked directly over one
another. A planar array of the stacked metamaterial is designed and applied as a
metamaterial cover.
The metamaterial slab is placed above the patch antenna separated by some
distance (usually /4) to act as a cover, but to support the slab in air some material must be
present in between these 2 structures. From fabrication point of view, a layer of Foam is
placed in this position while performing the simulations. The dielectric constant of Foam
is taken to be 1.1 which is very near to that of air. The distance between patch and the
metamaterial slab is varied and adjusted for maximum Gain. The effects of varying this
distance is studied and tabulated.
This exercise is repeated by replacing Foam(r=1.1) with Duroid(r=2.2), and then
with FR4 Epoxy(r=4.4) to observe the effect of change in dielectric constant on the
performance of patch antenna.

4.2 Proposed Structure

Figure 4.1 shows the structure of metamaterial unit cell proposed in Chapter 3. The
unit cell was formed by connecting traces of two SRRs in edge coupled configuration in
the shape of mathematical symbol infinity and hence termed Infinity Shaped
Metamaterial or 'ISM'. This structure behaves as 2 SRR's connected in series. The ground
plane on the other side of the substrate is composed of an array of straight wire conductors
instead of a continuous sheet of copper. The detailed description of ISM unit cell and its
analysis is presented in chapter 3. In this chapter the ISM structure was modified to bring
the resonant frequency down to a lower value, figure 4.2 shows this Modified ISM
structure (MISM).

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Figure 4.26 Structure of ISM unit cell

H k
Figure 4.27 Structure of Modified ISM (MISM) unit cell
In MISM the dielectric foam of ISM was replaced with Gallium Arsenide
(r=12.9), this structure is treated as Layer I. This layer except ground plane is replicated,
rotated by 180 deg and treated as Layer II. Finally, Layer II was stacked directly above
Layer I.
Use of Layer II and higher dielectric constant, increased the capacitance of the unit
cell and brought operating frequency down from 16.5GHz to 6.1GHz, without increasing
the dimensions of the unit cell. To improve coupling between the 2 layers, Layer I and
Layer II, a slot was etched in the dielectric of Layer II and a shorting pin was inserted
connecting the 2 metallic traces(shown in figure 4.2). The slot and shorting pin were
placed at the centre of the unit cell.

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To retrieve scattering parameters the radiation setup of the structure was done in an
air filled waveguide.

Figure 4.28 Schematic Diagram of ISM, Showing the Boundary Conditions: PEC &
PMC Boundaries Respectively.
The electric (PEC) & magnetic (PMC) fields were defined over the walls of the
waveguide in such a manner that the electric field is parallel to the wire while the
magnetic field is perpendicular to the SRR, shown in figure 4.3.
The graphs obtained for resonance, negative permittivity, negative permeability and
negative refractive index are shown below:

Name X Y XY Plot 2 ANSOFT

m1 0.00
6.1100 -28.4502 Curve Info
dB(S(1,1))
Setup1 : Sweep
dB(S(2,1))
-5.00 Setup1 : Sweep

-10.00
Y1

-15.00

-20.00

-25.00
m1

-30.00
5.00 5.25 5.50 5.75 6.00 6.25 6.50 6.75 7.00
Freq [GHz]

(a)

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