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Vol: 56(70) No: 4 / December 2011 

Parallel-Plate Waveguides Based on Metamaterials, with Fixed and Electronically Reconfigurable Geometry
Aldo De Sabata
Department of Measurements and Optical Electronics, \"Politehnica\" University of Timişoara, Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications, Bd. V. Pârvan No. 2, 300223 Timişoara, Romania, phone: +40 (0)256-40-3370, e-mail: aldo.desabata@etc.upt.ro
Ladislau Matekovits
Department of Electronics, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzi, 24, I-10129 Torino, Italy, phone: +39-011-564-4119, e-mail: ladislau.matekovits@polito.it, web: www.delen.polito.it/en/personale/scheda/%28nominativo%29/ladislau.matekovits


Keywords: periodic structure, electromagnetic band gap, active device, tunability, reconfigurability, dispersion engineering

Abstract
A novel, multi-element unit cell in parallel plate waveguide (PPW) is proposed and analyzed both in its passive and active configurations for 1D propagation. The passive configuration consists of up to three concentric rings, some of them being connected to the closing metallic planes by a variable number of vias. The large number of stop-bands (electromagnetic band gaps – EBGs) the structure exhibits is due to the different resonances of the various constituent elements. The active counterpart obtained by insertion of diodes between different rings allows real-time modifying of the electromagnetic response of the unit cell, consisting of change in the number and characteristics of the stop-bands and in the in-band behavior. The biasing through the vias represents an elegant and efficient solution avoiding the need of the presence of any biasing network. Sensibility of the structure to the geometrical dimensions, to the material properties and to the number of vias are in depth investigated by dedicated numerical software based on finite integration technique of the Maxwell’s equations. The dispersion diagrams (DDs) are obtained by standard approach, considering the eigen-solution of the homogeneous problem with appropriate periodic boundary conditions in 2D. Filters for cognitive radio systems, or multi-objective sensors are just some of the possible applications for this unit cell, with versatile electromagnetic properties.

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