Highly Sensitive Sensor With Low-Profile Based on TGV

With the rapid advancement of wireless communication systems, there is a high demand for compact and precise material characterization devices. In this work, a novel microwave planar sensor is proposed for accurate characterization of solid dielectric materials. The sensor is based on a grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) structure and features a compact footprint of (Formula presented.). A 3D solenoid inductor and a modified electric-LC resonator with interdigitated electrodes (ELC-IDE) are integrated to generate a strong resonance response. The combined use of these structures enhances the sensing performance by increasing the inductive path length and improving capacitive coupling. Through-Glass-Via (TGV) technology is employed to interconnect the top and bottom metal layers, with copper used for vias, glass as the substrate, and gold for the metallization. The helical solenoid extends the current path, resulting in an improved quality factor, while the ELC-IDE structure produces strong fringing electric fields for high capacitance. Electromagnetic simulations performed in Ansys High Frequency Structure Simulator(HFSS) show a resonance frequency of (Formula presented.) with a high quality factor. The sensor performance is evaluated for materials having permittivity values from 1 to 17, and a curve-fitting model is developed to extract permittivity with minimal error. The effect of sample thickness is also examined, and a thickness of (Formula presented.) is selected for optimal accuracy. The sensor exhibits minimal permittivity-estimation error and achieves a high sensitivity of (Formula presented.). Overall, the proposed design offers a compact, high-performance solution for dielectric material characterization, suitable for biomedical, chemical, and industrial applications.