Miniaturization and Characterization of Metamaterial Resonant Particles

This paper is focussed on the miniaturization and characterization of semi-lumped resonators, of interest for the synthesis of metamaterial-based structures such as metamaterial transmission lines, frequency selective surfaces, absorbers, and radiating elements, among others. The particles consist on metallic patterns etched on a dielectric and are inspired on the split ring resonator, SRR (that is, the formerly resonant particle used for the synthesis of left handed metamaterials). The different strategies for miniaturization are discussed and examples are given. It is shown that by using two metallic levels connected through vias it is possible to achieve very small electrical size for the particles (namely, below λ/100, where λ is the wavelength in the considered substrate at resonance). A method to determine the electrical parameters of the resonators in metamaterial transmission line configurations is also presented, and the possibility to determine the characteristics of the isolated particles is discussed. Finally, examples of application of this technique are presented. This work is of interest for the synthesis of effective media metamaterials based on resonant elements.