Results in Physics 12 (2019) 2112–2122

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Results in Physics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rinp

Split ring resonator loaded horizontally inverse double L-shaped T

metamaterial for C-, X- and Ku-Band Microwave applications
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
Ahmed Mahfuz Tamima, , Mohammad Rashed Iqbal Faruquea, , Md. Jubaer Alama, ,
⁎ ⁎
Sikder Sunbeam Islamb, , Mohammad Tariqul Islamc,
a
Space Science Center (ANGKASA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM, Selangor, Malaysia
b
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, International Islamic University Chittagong, Kumira, Chittagong, Bangladesh
c
Centre of Advanced Electronic and Communication Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The principle purpose of this study was to produce a horizontally inverse double L-shaped metamaterial that was
Double-negative metamaterial applicable for triple-band applications and that exhibited negative permittivity and permeability in the re-
Horizontally inverse double L-structured sonance frequencies. The horizontally inverse double L-shaped structure had a square split ring resonator on the
Triple-band outer side that was etched on a Rogers RT5880 dielectric substrate material. The size of the unit cell was
10 × 10 mm2. The CST Microwave Studio electromagnetic simulator was utilized for the design and analysis of
the proposed metamaterial. Analyses and comparisons were performed with different configurations, such as the
use of different substrates, varying the width of the splits, and the use of different array arrangements. All the
arrangements confirmed that triple-band operation frequency lay in the C-, X-, and Ku-bands. The double ne-
gative and negative refractive index regions as seen in the unit cell results and the array results harmonized
between 6–7.632 GHz, 7.932–8.388 GHz, 9.204–9.804 GHz, 10.284–13.356 GHz, 13.716–16.632 GHz,
16.872–17.136 GHz, 17.52–17.652 GHz and 10.692–12.828 GHz, 13.02–13.5 GHz, 14.928–18 GHz, respec-
tively. The scattering parameters dimensions of the introduced horizontally inverse double L-structured meta-
material is favorable for different applications associated with C-, X-, and Ku-bands such as long-distance,
military, and satellite communications.

Introduction structure with negative permeability and in 1999, in association with

other researchers [4], he developed the periodic non-magnetic struc-
Over the last few decades, research on electromagnetic metama- tures known as metallic split-ring resonators (SRRs). However, it was
terials (MTMs) for use in association with the microwave frequency Smith et al. [5–7] who fabricated an artificial metamaterial composed
spectrum has attracted much attention in the researcher community of metallic wire strips and SRRs and tested a double-negative meta-
[1]. Electromagnetic metamaterials are a new class of composites with material for the first time. However, there are losses associated with
exceptional electromagnetic characteristics such as negative permit- resonant-type mediums using wire strips and SRRs and they also possess
tivity or negative permeability, characteristics that are not typically a narrow bandwidth. In 2002, Caloz et al. [8] and two other re-
observed in nature materials. These exotic electromagnetic character- searchers, namely Iyer and Eleutherius [9], proposed a transmission-
istics can be acquired through incorporating diverse geometrical line (TL) method for metamaterials. Subsequently, various researchers
structures instead of through chemical arrangements. Double-negative have presented different metamaterials for diverse applications owing
(DNG) metamaterials simultaneously exhibit negative permittivity and to their exotic electromagnetic properties. These included such appli-
permeability at resonant frequencies. A material is characterized as a cations as waveguides, metamaterial antennas [10], filters [11], in-
single-negative (SNG) metamaterial if the material shows either nega- visibility cloaking [12], electromagnetic absorbers [13], and the re-
tive permittivity or permeability at the resonant frequency. In 1968, duction of specific absorption rates (SAR) [14] etc. Research in this
Veselago [2] first discovered the theoretical possibility of double-ne- field is still ongoing.
gative materials. In 1996, Pendry et al. [3] developed a metallic At present, single-band, double-band, triple-band or multi-band

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A.M. Tamim), [email protected] (M.R.I. Faruque), [email protected] (Md. J. Alam),
[email protected] (S.S. Islam), [email protected] (M.T. Islam).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2019.02.033
Received 6 January 2019; Received in revised form 10 February 2019; Accepted 10 February 2019
Available online 13 February 2019
2211-3797/ © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
A.M. Tamim, et al. Results in Physics 12 (2019) 2112–2122

Fig. 1. (a) Geometric configuration of the unit cell (b) Fabricated geometry (c) Fabricated 18 × 20 mm2 array prototype.

metamaterials or metamaterial arrays with large bandwidths of nega- structures etched onto the six sides of a cubic dielectric substrate. It
tive refractive index have become an attractive subject in the research demonstrated a negative refractive index from 7.5 to 14.5 GHz. Mallik
community. However, very few studies have focused on the design of et al. [20] introduced a “U-shaped” double-negative metamaterial in
such materials [15–17]. Some metals possess intrinsic negative per- 2013 for several orthogonal structures. In Ref. [21] published in 2013, a
mittivity, but it is more difficult to find a natural medium with negative chiral metamaterial was presented based on bi-layer complementary
permeability. Although artificial structures are used, negative perme- conjugate-swastika structures, which consisted of double-layered
ability is relatively difficult to achieve. It is therefore very difficult to copper plates on opposite sides of an FR4 substrate. The size of the
obtain simultaneous negative permittivity and permeability (ε < 0 and metamaterial unit cell was 10 × 10 mm2. Islam et al. [22] proposed a
µ < 0). Numerous alphabetic metamaterial structures have thus been 30 × 30 mm2 “H-shaped” metamaterial in 2014. Resonance frequencies
proposed for use in various applications by different researchers. were found at the S-, C-, X-, and Ku-band. Hossain et al. [23] designed a
Benosman et al. [18] presented a “double S-shaped” microwave “G-shaped” metamaterials in 2015 in which the unit cell and array were
metamaterial in 2012. This metamaterial demonstrated is negative re- both diverse in size, ensuring that the material was applicable for S-and
fractive index bandwidth in the frequency range 15.67 to 17.43 GHz. In C-bands. The metamaterial dimensions were 12 × 12 mm2. Hasan et al.
Ref. [19], Cheng et al. developed a broadband negative index meta- [24] presented a “Z-shaped” resonant metamaterial for C- and X-bands
material in 2012 consisting of double periodic arrays of metallic fishnet in 2016 with a bandwidth frequency of 3.61 GHz (3.48–7.09 GHz).

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Table 1
Parameters of the horizontally inverse double L-structured unit cell.
Parameters Ws Ls W L a c d e f g Sg

Value (mm) 10 10 9 9 1.5 1.5 0.5 2 0.75 0.25 0.5

Fig. 2. Simulation arrangement of the presented horizontally inverse double L-

shaped unit cell for free-space measurement purpose.
Fig. 4. Identical LC circuit for the introduced unit cell structure.

Again, in 2016, Zhou et al. [25], presented an 8.5 × 8.5 mm2 “Double
Z-shaped” double-negative material achieved using electrical and
magnetic coplanar resonators. The resonator structure consisted of two
orthogonal Z-shape metal strips and resonances were noted at 7.3, 8.1,
and 9.4 GHz. Cheng et al. [26] proposed another chiral metamaterial in
2016 using triple-layer twisted circular split-ring resonators (SRRs) that
could function as a multi-band circular polarizer with a unit cell size of
10 × 10 mm2. Moreover, the same authors presented a triple-band
polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber consisting of a single
circular sector resonator (CSR) and a ground plane are separated by a
dielectric substrate FR4 having a unit cell size of 20 × 20 mm2 in Ref.
[27]. Absorption values were found to be 98.8%, 99.7%, and 98.3% for
absorption frequency peaks at 3.35 GHz, 8.65 GHz, and 12.44 GHz,
respectively. In 2017, Hasan et al. [28] presented a 10 × 10 mm2 split
S-shape ring resonator, which showed resonance in the X-band, having
a negative refractive index bandwidth from 8 to 11.70 GHz and from
11.78 to 14 GHz. Furthermore, in 2017, Luo et al. [29] in 2017 pre-
sented an ultra-thin dual-band polarization-insensitive and wide-angle
metamaterial absorber based on a single circular resonator having an
average absorption of over 99% and a unit cell size of 10 × 10 mm2.
In this article, a novel horizontally inverse double L-structured
metamaterial unit cell is presented along with the simulated results and
experimental results. In this structure, a horizontally inverse double L-
shape is formed having two rectangular SRRs at the outer side that are
etched onto the Rogers RT5880 dielectric substrate material with a
thickness of 1.57 mm. The dimensions of the proposed metamaterial are
10 × 10 × 1.635 mm3. The developed structure showed resonance
frequencies in the C-, X-, and Ku-band frequency regions. The unit cell
also exhibited the single-negative and double-negative characteristics
across the triple-band frequency. CST Microwave Studio electro-
magnetic simulator was used along with finite integration techniques
(FIT) for the design and analysis of the characteristics of the proposed
metamaterial. This included finding the reflection and transmission
parameters that were used to determine the retrieval permittivity (ε)
and permeability (µ) of the introduced unit cell configuration.

Fig. 3. Experimental arrangement for the measurement of S-parameters (a) Design of unit cell structure
Waveguide method (unit cell) (b) Horn antenna method (array).
A schematic view and structural sketch of the horizontally inverse
double L-structured unit cell metamaterial is presented in Fig. 1. This
layout was formed by two horizontally opposite inverse double L-shape
with two rectangular split-ring resonators at the outer side having a

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Fig. 5. (a) Reflection coefficient (S11) , (b) transmission coefficient (S21) of unit cell, and (c–e) real and imaginary curve for the retrieval permittivity, permeability, and
the refractive index, respectively.

thickness of 0.035 mm. Rogers RT5880 was utilized as a dielectric horizontally inverse double L-structured metal is responsible for the
substrate material. The thickness, dielectric constant, and loss tangent inductance of the structure. The splits in the ring resonators are re-
of the substrate was 1.57 mm, 2.2, and 0.0009, respectively. This sponsible for the capacitance of the structure. Both the inductance and

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Table 2 effective refractive index, using the parameters S11 and S21 as follows:
Negative effective parameter frequency region of the developed unit cell.
2 2
Parameters Frequency range of negative index in GHz ηr =
c
× ⎧ (S21 − 1) − S11 ⎫
jπfd ⎨ (S + 1) 2 − S 2⎬
⎩ 21 11 ⎭ (9)
Effective Permittivity 6–7.812, 7.944–8.832, 10.056–12.96,
13.548–13.572, 4.928–17.988 These Eqs. (1)–(9) were used to calculate the scattering parameters
Effective Permeability 10.704–18 i.e. retrieval permittivity, permeability, and refractive index of the unit
Effective Refractive Index 6–7.656, 7.968–8.436, 9.228–9.804, cell and array.
10.272–12.852, 13.104–13.812, 14.014–16.944
For measurement purposes, a 10 × 10 mm unit cell prototype was
Double Negative Region 10.704–12.96, 13.548–13.872, 14.928–17.988
fabricated. An Agilent N5227 vector network analyzer (VNA) was used
to find the S-parameters of the horizontally inverse double L-shaped
the capacitance are interacting with each other to set the resonance unit cell. In addition, an Agilent N4694–60001 unit was utilized for
frequency. FIT-based CST Microwave Studio was utilized for the design calibration of the VNA to ensure the accuracy of the measurements. A
and analysis of the characteristics of the metamaterial. Fig. 1(a–c) set of waveguides to co-axial adapters was used along with the VNA.
shows the schematic diagram and fabricated prototype of the unit cell These waveguides were 137WCAS, 112WCAS, and 75WCAS for the
and the array prototype. Table 1 presents the dimensions of each of the frequency ranges 5.38–8.17 GHz, 6.57–9.99 GHz, and 10–15 GHz, re-
parameters of the proposed unit cell structure in mm. spectively. Measurements were performed by placing the proposed unit
cell prototype inside the two waveguides as shown in Fig. 3(a). The
Methodology waveguide method was used because the unit cell could easily be potted
in between the two waveguides, where the electric field and magnetic
In this study, a commercially available, high frequency electro- field passed through the X-axis and Y-axis respectively. The Z-axis was
magnetic simulator was utilized to analyze the performance of the unit reserved for free space measurement purposes.
cell and array structure. The metamaterial unit cell was set between two An array prototype of size 180 × 200 mm, composed of an array of
waveguides on the negative and positive Z-axis. Boundary conditions 18 × 20 mm2 unit cells, was fabricated for measurement purposes. The
for a perfect electric field and perfect magnetic field were set towards horn antenna method was used to analyze the performance of the array
the X-axis and Y-axis, respectively. For the free-space measurement prototype. Measurements were performed by setting the array proto-
purpose, the Z-axis was chosen as shown in Fig. 2. In addition, to obtain type in the middle of the approximately 1 m distance between the two
more precise results, a tetrahedral mesh was adopted in conjunction horn antennas as shown in Fig. 3(b). The size of the array prototype was
with an advanced mesh scheme. The impedance was set to a standard so big in comparison with the unit cell that it could not be placed in
value of 50 Ω. For the simulation process, a frequency domain solver between the two waveguides. Thus, for the array measurement, the
was adopted, and the operating frequency was set between 6 and horn antenna method was utilized.
18 GHz.
To realize the exotic electromagnetic characteristics, the reflection Identical circuit of unit cell configuration
coefficient (S11) and transmission coefficient (S21) were examined. The
reflection coefficient can be calculated as follows [24]: As the introduced metamaterial structure is composed of passive
elements i.e., capacitive-inductive (LC) elements, the resonance fre-
Z0 − 1
Γ= quency ( f ) can be calculated using:
Z0 + 1 (1)
1
where Z0 is the relative impedance for S11 and S21 can be calculated as f=
2π LT CT (10)
below:
where C and L denote the structure’s capacitance and inductance, re-
μr
Z0 = spectively.
εr (2)
The inductance of the introduced structure was created with the
The scattering parameters i.e. S11 and S21 can be calculated as shown metal strips and the capacitance was created with the splits. Electrical
below: resonances were created by mutual coupling of the gaps or splits and
electrical fields when an electromagnetic wave was applied and pro-
(1 − Γ2) Z pagated through the unit cell structure. In addition, magnetic re-
S11 =
1 − Γ2Z 2 (3)
sonances were created by coupling of the magnetic fields and loops.
(1 − Z 2) Γ Typically, the capacitance between the gaps or splits is given below by
S21 = quasi-static theory as follows:
1 − Γ2Z 2 (4)

From S11 and S21, A

C = ε0 εr
d (11)
V1 = S11 + S21 (5)
Moreover, the total inductance (L ) can be calculated from [30] as
V2 = S21 − S11 (6) follows:
Although various types of methods are available, the Nicolson-Ross- (2ω + g + h )2 + l 2 ⎫
⎧ 2(d + g + h )2
Weir (NRW) was used to find out the retrieval permittivity and per- L = 0.01 × μ 0 + t
⎨ (2ω + g + h )2 (d + g + h ) ⎬ (12)
meability from the parameters S11 and S21. In this way, the scattering ⎩ ⎭
parameters can be calculated as follows:
Hence, the total capacitance (C ) can be estimated as follows:
c (1 − V1)
εr = × 2ω + g + h ⎧ 2(d + g + h ) ⎫ ⎤
jπfd (1 + V1) (7) C = ε0 ⎡ ln t
⎢ 2π (d + h )2 ⎨ ⎩ (a − l ) ⎭⎥
⎬ (13)
⎣ ⎦
c (1 − V2)
μr = × where the free-space permittivity (ε0 ) and free-space permeability ( μ 0 )
jπfd (1 + V2) (8)
is 8.854 × 10−12 F/m and 4π × 10−7 H/m, respectively.
By contrast, direct refractive strategy was used to calculate the Inductance and capacitance were formed by the series and shunt

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Fig. 6. Instantaneous distribution of (a) surface current, (b) electric field, and (c) magnetic field at 7.69 GHz, 8.46 GHz, 13.12 GHz, and 14.028 GHz, respectively.

branches of the equivalent circuit for large frequency region of negative capacitance would have been increased. The identical circuit of the
refractive index. The splits produced the capacitive effect and are re- introduced horizontally inverse double L-shaped metamaterial config-
ferred to in the circuit as C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, and C6. The inductance uration is shown in Fig. 4.
effect was produced by metal strips that are referred to in the circuit as
L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and L6. Adding further splits to the resonator may
have led to a small phase delay and the metamaterial unit cell’s total

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Table 3
Negative effective parameters frequency region of the 1 × 2 array.
Parameters Frequency range of negative index in GHz

Effective Permittivity 6–7.788, 7.908–8.796, 10.056–12.828, 13.02–13.5,

14.928–18
Effective Permeability 10.692–18
Effective refractive index 6–7.632, 7.932–8.388, 9.204–9.804, 10.284–13.356,
13.716–16.632, 16.872–17.136, 17.52–17.652
Double negative region 10.692–12.828, 13.02–13.5, 14.928–18

Performance analysis of the proposed horizontally inverse double L-

structured metamaterial was performed using CST Microwave Studio.

Unit cell analyses

The reflection coefficient (S11) and the transmission coefficient (S21)

of the proposed unit cell are presented in Fig. 5(a) and (b), respectively.
Simulation results showed that the transmission characteristics (S21) of
Fig. 7. Transmission characteristics (S21) of the proposed unit cell on various the proposed unit cell included resonance frequencies of 7.69 GHz,
dielectric substrates.
8.47 GHz, 13.14 GHz, and 12.04 GHz. The experimental results for the
unit cell showed resonances at 7.62 GHz, 8.43 GHz, 13.1 GHz, and
14.14 GHz. However, the experimental results for reflection (S11) and
transmittance (S21) were shortened and slightly shifted in comparison to
the simulation results. This variation could be attributed to calibration
error, mutual resonance between the transmitting and receiving ends of
the waveguide, free space measurement techniques, fabrication errors,
or perhaps to the substrate’s permittivity.
Table 2 shows the frequency region of the retrieval negative per-
mittivity, negative permeability, refractive index, and double negative
of the unit cell. The S-parameters i.e., the reflection coefficient(S11) and
transmission coefficient(S21) of the unit cell, the real and imaginary
values of the effective negative permittivity, the effective negative
permeability, and the effective refractive index are shown in Fig. 5.
From Table 2, it can be seen that the metamaterial unit cell had a ne-
gative refractive index for the frequency ranges 6–7.656 GHz,
7.968–8.436 GHz, 9.228–9.804 GHz, 10.272–12.852 GHz,
13.104–13.812 GHz, and 14.014–16.944 GHz and a double-negative
region in the frequency ranges 10.704–12.96 GHz, 13.548–13.872 GHz,
and 14.928–17.988 GHz. The double negative region of the frequency
range showed that the unit cell and the metamaterial array behaved as
Fig. 8. Transmission characteristics (S21) of the unit cell for different width of a left-handed metamaterial (LHM), which is useful for various appli-
the split gap. cations such as electromagnetic cloaking, filters, sensors, and absorbers.
The current distribution for the different resonance frequencies is
shown in Fig. 6(a). In the proposed structure, the surface current was an
electrical current distribution created by the applied electromagnetic
fields. At lower frequencies, the circulation of surface current was su-
perior to that at higher frequencies. From Fig. 6, it can be seen that the
currents at the lower frequencies were more balanced in comparison
with those at higher frequencies. At lower frequencies, circulation of
current was almost over the conducting patch. However, at higher
frequencies, current flowed through the conductor’s surface in lieu of
the fundamental portions of the conductor. This was caused by skin
effect. The current is often forced to take curvilinear paths rather than
straight ones with an increase in frequency in comparison to its beha-
vior at lower frequencies. However, the surface current flowed in op-
posite directions within the same metal arms of the inner and outer ring
Fig. 9. Schematic diagram and simulation arrangement of the 1 × 2 array using resonators. This caused stop band behavior by nullifying the currents at
the metamaterial unit cell. the resonance frequencies.
A homogeneous wave propagated along the X-axis and polarization
Results and discussions occurred on the Y-axis of the structure. Furthermore, because of di-
mensional scattering, the electric field in the X-direction stimulated a
In this study, the NRW method and the direct refractive index (DRI) magnetic dipole in the Y-direction because of the asymmetrical beha-
method were utilized to extract the retrieval metamaterial parameters. vior of the inner and outer resonator rings. Additionally, the magnetic
This section details the electromagnetic characteristics of the meta- field in the Y-direction stimulated an electric dipole in the X-direction
material in terms of permittivity, permeability, and refractive index. [11]. The splits or gaps of the resonator typically behaved as capacitors

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Fig. 10. (a) Reflection (S11) and transmission coefficient (S21) of 1 × 2 array, and (b–d) real and imaginary curve of the retrieval permittivity, permeability, refractive
index, respectively.

because energy was stored there in the form of electric fields. This
generated an electrical resonance and an associated dielectric response,
which resulted in permittivity. The following structure stored their
energy fundamentally as magnetic fields. Thus, it had an associated
magnetic resonance, which resulted in permeability. Fig. 6(b) and (c)
show the electric and magnetic field distributions at the resonance
frequencies. The shaded color maps demonstrate the general effect of
the two fields on the resonator. From Fig. 6(b) and (c), the electric field
and the magnetic field can be seen to be opposing, which satisfies
Maxwell’s equations.
The magnetic dipole moment formed by the electrical field was
responsible for generating the resonator’s artificial magnetism. This
ended up creating an effective negative permeability. In addition, the
electrical resonance, which corresponded to permittivity that was ef-
fectively negative, was imposed by the magnetic resonance. This
overlap led to the composite medium's refractive index being effectively
negative.

Fig. 11. Schematic diagram and simulation arrangement of the 2 × 2 array of

metamaterial unit cell array. Parametric analysis of different dielectric substrates

The authors studied the unit cell performance on different dielectric

substrates before finalizing the selection of the substrate as Rogers RT-
5880 with an associated thickness of 1.57 mm and a dielectric constant

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Table 4
Negative effective parameters frequency region of the 2 × 2 array.
Parameters Frequency range of negative index in GHz

Effective Permittivity 6–8.028, 8.124–8.46, 8.736–8.838, 9.56–10.08, 10.38–13.08, 14.664–16.668, 16.716–17.808

Effective Permeability 10.656–18
Effective refractive index 6–7.248, 7.296–7.68, 9.06–9.288, 9.624–10.032, 10.14–10.32, 10.52–12.92, 13.272–16.476, 16.692–16.92, 17.088–17.136
Double negative region 10.656–13.08, 14.664–16.668, 16.716–17.808

Fig. 12. (a) Reflection (S11) and transmission coefficient (S21) of the 2 × 2 array, and (b–d) the real and imaginary curve of retrieval permittivity, permeability,
refractive index, respectively.

of 2.2. FR4, Rogers RO3010, and Arlon AD600 were previously used that the best performance amongst the dielectric substrates was
with thicknesses of 1.6 mm, 1.4 mm, 1.6 mm, respectively, and di- achieved with the Rogers RT5880 dielectric substrate when used within
electric constants of 4.4, 10.2, and 6.15, respectively. The dielectric the proposed unit cell. This prompted the selection of the Rogers
constant was a vital factor in choosing a dielectric substrate material. RT5880 substrate, which is compatible with this unit cell design.
The conductivity of the dielectric substrate decreases if the dielectric
constant of the material increases. The dielectric constant is dependent Study of the thickness of split-ring resonator (SRRs)
on the internal structure of the material. Electric and magnetic fields
oscillate in a sinusoidal pattern and perpendicular to each other when The unit cell performance was studied on different thicknesses of
an electromagnetic wave travels through a material. The velocity of the SRR. The SRR is a common and well-known element of negative per-
electrical field and magnetic field are dependent on the electrical meability. The SRR is etched on a dielectric substrate to harmonize the
conductivity of the material, which in turn depends on the material’s negative permeability effect with the elements of negative permittivity.
internal structure. The transmission characteristics (S21) of various di- If a changing magnetic field is applied vertically to the SRR plane, the
electric substrates are presented in Fig. 7. From Fig. 7, it can be seen SRR acts as an inductor-capacitor (LC) circuit that is driven by the

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double-negative region for the frequency ranges 10.704–12.96 GHz,

13.548–13.872 GHz, and 14.928–17.988 GHz.

xxx2 × 2 Array Analyses

Fig. 11 shows the 2 × 2 array geometry for the metamaterial unit
cell. Two unit cells were joined horizontally, and two-unit cells were
joined vertically to produce this array arrangement. The operating
frequency of this array configuration was 6–18 GHz and the same
methodology was utilized to extract its effective parameters.
Table 4 shows the frequency region of the retrieval negative per-
mittivity, negative permeability, refractive index, and the double ne-
gative of the 2 × 2 unit cell array. In addition, the S-parameters i.e., the
reflection coefficient (S11) and transmission coefficient (S21) of the 2 × 2
array, and the real and imaginary curves of effective negative permit-
tivity, effective negative permeability, and effective refractive index are
shown in Fig. 12. From Table 4, it can be seen that the 2 × 2 meta-
material array had negative refractive index for the frequency ranges
6–7.248 GHz, 7.296–7.68 GHz, 9.06–9.288 GHz, 9.624–10.032 GHz,
10.14–10.32 GHz, 10.52–12.92 GHz, 13.272–16.476 GHz,
Fig. 13. Measured transmission coefficient (S21) of the 18 × 20 array proto- 16.692–16.92 GHz, and 17.088–17.136 GHz and double-negative re-
type. gion for the frequency ranges 10.656–13.08 GHz, 14.664–16.668 GHz,
16.716–17.808 GHz.
Table 5 The 18 × 20 array prototype with dimensions 180 × 200 mm
Comparison between developed metamaterial and existing metamaterial. yielded results as shown in Fig. 13. The array prototype’s performance
was measured using the horn antenna method as shown in Fig. 3(b).
References Year Dimensions (mm2) Frequency Bands
From the results, resonance frequencies were found at 7.63 GHz,
Benosman et al. [18] 2012 4×4 Ku-band 8.77 GHz, 13.26 GHz, and 13.88 GHz. The resonance frequencies
Mallik et al. [20] 2013 25 × 25 C-band shifted in comparison with the unit cell results. However, the fre-
Islam et. al [22] 2014 30 × 30 Multi-band quencies remained in the appropriate bands i.e., the C-, X-, and Ku-
Hossain et al. [23] 2015 12 × 12 S-, C-band
bands (last two resonance frequency), respectively. The shifting of re-
Hasan et al. [24] 2016 10 × 10 C-, X-band
Zhou et al. [25] 2016 8.5 × 8.5 X-band sonance frequencies and noise occurred because of calibration error,
Hasan et al. [28] 2017 10 × 10 X-band free space measurement techniques, fabrication errors, or mutual cou-
Developed structure 2018 10 × 10 C-, X-, Ku-band pling between the unit cells of the array.
Table 5 represents a comparison between the frequency bands of the
introduced design and the frequency bands attained in previous re-
magnetic field and exhibits a resonance frequency ωm = 1/√LC, which search works.
is linked with the resonant circular current in the rings. This current
gives rise to the resonant moment of a magnetic dipole. This SRR can be Conclusion
characterized by an effective resonant permeability followed by a ne-
gative permeability region. As can be seen in Fig. 8, changing the split In this study, a novel horizontally inverse double L-structured me-
gap to 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm did not change the resonance frequency. tamaterial was developed that demonstrated a double negative region
However, changing the split gap more as 0.6 mm increased the re- and negative refractive index characteristics over triple-band operation.
sonance frequencies by decreasing the overall capacitance of the unit A high frequency electromagnetic simulator was used for the design,
cell. simulation, and to extract the S-parameters of the metamaterial. The
scattering parameters of the metamaterial were determined using the
Metamaterial array analysis NRW method. Thus, this artificial composite metamaterial may become
a prominent solution for use in many double negative applications such
Two types of array were studied to justify the results of the unit cell as invisibility cloaking, filters, and antennas. It may also become pro-
configuration. Effective medium parameters of the array were calcu- minent in many negative refractive index applications such as super-
lated using the NRW method and the DRI method. lensing and transformation optics. The developed double-negative
metamaterial has both double-negative region and negative refractive
xxx1 × 2 Array analysis index region that makes it applicable for use in the microwave fre-
Fig. 9 shows the 1 × 2 array of the metamaterial unit cell. Two unit quency C-, X-, and Ku-bands.
cells were joined horizontally to produce this array arrangement. The
operating frequency of this array configuration was 6–18 GHz and the Acknowledgement
same methodology was utilized to extract its effective parameters.
Table 3 shows the frequency region of the retrieval negative per- This work was supported by the Research Universiti Grant,
mittivity, negative permeability, refractive index, and the double ne- Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Geran Universiti Penyelidikan (GUP),
gative of the 1 × 2 unit cell array. In addition, the S-parameters i.e., the code: 2018-134.
reflection coefficient(S11) and transmission coefficient(S21) of the 1 × 2
array along with the real and imaginary curves of the effective negative Author Contributions
permittivity, the effective negative permeability, and the effective re-
fractive index are shown in Fig. 10. From table 3, it can be seen that the Ahmed Mahfuz Tamim made substantial contributions to design,
1 × 2 metamaterial array had negative refractive index for the fre- analysis, characterization and application. Mohammad Rashed Iqbal
quency ranges 6–7.656 GHz, 7.968–8.436 GHz, 9.228–9.804 GHz, Faruque participated in the conception and critical revision of the ar-
10.272–12.852 GHz, 13.104–13.812 GHz, and 14.014–16.944 GHz and ticle for important intellectual content. Md. Jubaer Alam, Sikder

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A.M. Tamim, et al. Results in Physics 12 (2019) 2112–2122

Sunbeam Islam, Mohammad Tariqul Islam provided necessary instruc- [14] Faruque MRI, Islam MT. Design of miniaturized double-negative material for spe-
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Conflicts of Interest [16] Ahamed E, Hasan MM, Faruque MRI, Mansor MFB, Abdullah S, Islam MT. Left-
handed metamaterial inspired by joint TD geometry on flexible NiAl2O4 substrate.
PloS one 2018;13(6):e0199150.
The authors declare no conflict of interest. [17] Rahman MA, Ahamed E, Faruque MRI, Islam MT. Preparation of NiAl2O4-based
flexible substrates for metamaterials with negative dielectric properties. Sci Rep
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