A Low-Cost Metamaterial Sensor Based on DS-CSRR for Material Characterization Applications

This paper presents a metamaterial sensor using a double slit complementary square ring resonator (DS-CSRR) that has been utilized for the measurement of dielectric materials, especially coal powder. The design is optimized for best performance of deep notch depth in transmission coefficient (Magnitude of S₂₁ ). Sensitivity analysis of transmission coefficient with respect to structure dimen-sions has been carried out. Metamaterial properties of double negative permitivity and permeability were extracted from the S–parameters of this sensor. The optimized structure is fabricated using low cost FR-4 PCB board. Measured result shows resonance frequency of 4.75 GHz with a deep notch up to −41 dB. Simulated and measured results show good agreement in desired frequency band. For material characterization, first, two known materials are characterized using this metamaterial sensor. Their respective resonances and dielectric constants are known, so the transcendental equation of the sensor is formulated. Afterwards, the proposed sensor is used for dielectric measurement of two types of coal powder, i.e., Anthracite and Bituminous. The measured value of dielectric constant of Anthracite coal is 3.5 and of Bituminous coal is 2.52. This is a simple and effective nondestructive measurement technique for material testing applications.