Spoof Surface Plasmon Research Articles

Compact dual-band filter using hybrid transition-free spoof surface plasmon polaritons and substrate integrated waveguide

In this paper, a new hybrid transition-free spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs)-substrate integrated waveguide(SIW) unit is used to design a compact dual-band filter. Benefiting from the combination of the H-shaped unit and the bilateral T-shaped unit of the proposed hybrid unit, the inherent two-stage wave vector matching is provided to achieve momentum and impedance matching. Thus, the proposed transition-free SSPPs-based filter does not require SSPPs transition units, making the circuit size reduction largely. Moreover, the high-order mode (Mode 1) of the transition-free SSPPs transmission units will not be suppressed by the stopband between the fundamental mode (Mode 0) and Mode 1 of transition-free SSPPs transition unit, making it possible to design a dual-band filter based on Mode 0 and Mode 1. In addition, the cutoff frequency of the filter can be controlled by the geometric size of the hybrid transition-free SSPPs-SIW unit. To verify the design theory, a compact dual-band filter with operating frequencies of 4.4 GHz − 5.6 GHz and 9.0 GHz − 9.6 GHz is designed and fabricated. The simulated results are in good agreement with the test results, indicating the feasibility of the proposed structure and design method.

Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons-Based Detection of Glucose in Blood Phantom for Medical Diagnosis

Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons-Based Detection of Glucose in Blood Phantom for Medical Diagnosis

Dual-band ESSPP-SSPP transmission line with independently controllable cutoff frequencies.

In this work, an effective spoof surface plasmon polariton (ESSPP)-SSPP transmission line (TL) is proposed, which can operate in dual bands. Unlike SSPP TL, our ESSPP-SSPP TL allows for relatively accurate parameter estimation, independent control over each cutoff frequency, and low insertion loss. We provided the dispersion relation and closed-form formulas for calculating each cutoff frequency and explained the mechanism behind the independent controllability of each cutoff frequency. This allows us to quickly estimate the structural parameters with an analytical design approach. By leveraging the dispersion of the ESSPP-SSPP mode, we designed a dual-band filter operating in the millimeter-wave range, and its performance was validated through experimental measurements. This work paves the way for the development of novel SPP-like microwave/millimeter-wave devices.

Design of a CPW-based SSPP band-pass filter with reflectionless notch

Abstract This work proposes a band-pass filter (BPF) with a reflectionless notch based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs), utilizing interdigital coupling structures and novel transmission line unit cells. This filter efficiently transmits signals within the 0.67 GHz −4.06 GHz frequency range. By analyzing the equivalent LC circuit of the novel transmission line unit cell, its dispersion relation is derived using microwave network theory, with a cutoff frequency of 4.11 GHz. By comparing its dispersion relation with that of the conventional transmission line unit cell, the miniaturization capability of the proposed unit cell can be verified. In the BPF, loading a zigzag groove onto the central transmission line can be equivalently represented as an interdigital coupling structure, generating a stopband in the low-frequency range near 0 GHz. By deriving and analyzing its S-parameters, it is shown that the bandwidth of the low-frequency stopband can be flexibly adjusted by modifying the geometric dimensions of the zigzag groove. Additionally, loading another set of interdigital coupling structures onto the transmission line generates a notch at its resonant frequency of 3.4 GHz. It is noteworthy that in this configuration, the interdigital coupling structures along with the central transmission line can be represented equivalently as a set of CPW antennas. At the resonant frequency, the atructure radiates signals into free space, forming a reflectionless notch. Based on the simulations, a physical filter was fabricated and tested, showing excellent agreement between simulations and measurements.

Miniaturized broadband high out-of-band rejection bandpass filter based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons with defected ground structure

In this paper, a novel compact bandpass filter (BPF) with a wide out-of-band rejection is proposed. It can achieve broadband characteristics by combining hollow bowtie-type spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) with complementary H-type defected grounded structures (DGSs) through aperture coupling. Compared with the conventional SSPP unit cells, the hollow bowtie-type structure exhibits much better slow-wave characteristics. The introduced slant antenna type port-coupling can produce a very strong high-performance rejection outside the high frequency stopband. Simulation results show that the SSPPs-DGS-based BPF has an excellent band pass characteristics in a broadband range with − 3dB fractional bandwidth of 43.5% at center frequency f0 of 2.04 GHz. The return loss in the passband is better than − 12 dB. Furthermore, because of the multiple transmission zeros generated in upper-stop-band, the designed BPF has an extremely strong out-of-band rejection of -40dB from 1.5 f0 to 4 f0 (f0 is the center frequency). The designed SSPPs-DGS-based BPF is fabricated by conventional printed circuit board (PCB) technology with a compact size of only 0.68λg*0.34λg (λg is the wavelength at the center frequency). The measured results have a good agreement with the simulation ones, which verifies the rationality and feasibility of the design. The miniaturized wideband BPF with broad out-of-band rejection may make it has good application prospect in the new generation microwave communication field.

Reconfigurable dual-mode meta-waveguide

With the rapid growth of information flux, integrating more channels in limited spaces has been a critical requirement for highly-integrated long-range parallel transmissions. Although meta-waveguides, such as spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) waveguides, can suppress crosstalk between adjacent channels, it is still urgent to seek new methods to further increase the number of channels without occupying additional space. Here, we propose a reconfigurable dual-mode meta-waveguide (RDMMW) by integrating diodes into meta-units, which supports two independent channels using two orthogonal modes. The RDMMW can be switched among dual-mode, even-mode, odd-mode and cutoff states by controlling the diodes, which provides more freedom to manipulate the channel features. The RDMMW possess two outstanding merits in highly-integrated long-range parallel transmissions, including lower coupling between two channels than conventional single-mode waveguides and constant mode coupling in longer waveguides. Thus the proposed RDMMW has advantages of multi-mode, reconfiguration, low coupling and high integration density, providing a new avenue to realize highly-integrated multi-functional systems.

Isolation improvement between two tightly coupled QMSIW MIMO antenna elements using spoof surface plasmon polariton structure

AbstractA spoof surface plasmon polariton superstrate structure‐based decoupling method is proposed in this paper to reduce mutual coupling between two tightly coupled quarter‐mode substrate integrated waveguide antenna elements. This superstrate is a periodic structure suspended over the antenna elements with an inter‐element spacing of 0.02 λ0 (1 mm) at 6 GHz. It has been demonstrated that the isolation can be improved from 6.5 dB to more than 39 dB within the operation band in measurement. Further, it has been shown that the proposed method can improve both the total efficiency (by 25%) and gain (1.4 dBi) of the multiple‐input multiple‐output antenna.

A microwave permittivity sensor on a Mach–Zehnder Interferometer of: Spoof surface plasmon polariton waveguides

A microwave Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) sensor for the permittivity characterization of liquids is presented in this paper. Two spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) waveguide transmission lines (TLs) composed of compact spiral units is utilized in a differential architecture. Loading a dielectric material on the sensing arm induces a phase difference between the two arms, leading to periodic interference dips on the transmission curve. The spectral positions and magnitudes of these dips change with different dielectric materials. Due to the nonlinear dispersion characteristics of the SSPP TL, the proposed SSPP-based MZI sensor achieves improved sensitivity compared with microstrip-based MZI sensor. To validate the sensor’s performance, six different oil samples and a set of adulterated oils were measured, incorporating a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channel on the sensing arm. The variations in the spectral position and magnitude of the interference dip centered at 3.2 GHz are employed to determine the dielectric constants and loss tangents of the tested oils. The sensitivity in measuring the dielectric constant is 3.61 %. The maximum errors for measuring the dielectric constant and the loss tangent are 4.3 % and 6.7 %, respectively. Compared to other sensors for liquid oil detection, the proposed sensor provides a relatively high sensitivity while maintaining a low liquid volume, making it a promising candidate for permittivity measurements of liquid analytes and solid materials with similar dielectric constants.

Miniaturized low-profile end-fire antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Miniaturized low-profile end-fire antenna based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Dispersion-free characterization of terahertz slab–waveguide modal confinement based on a metal Bragg grating structure

Photonic waveguide structures that use periodic metal grooves and periodically perforated metal slits (PPMSs) can laterally confine Sommerfeld and Zenneck surface waves of metals with the electric field accumulation among metal interspaces in the terahertz (THz) region, instead of the total internal reflection principle of dielectric slab media. For the efficiency enhancements of THz-wave coupling and slab–waveguide confinement, specific integrators with high refractive indices or specified for input angles of transverse magnetic polarized waves, such as prisms, metal blades, and waveguides, are requested to excite spoof surface plasmons in the THz region. However, the integrator-assembled slab–waveguides encounter challenges of THz pulse-wave communication in compact and low-distortion systems. A resonant waveguide grating structure based on PPMSs is experimentally demonstrated to confine THz lateral waves from the plane-wave radiation in free space. The open frame and periodic metal cavities of PPMSs can work as a slab–waveguide to transmit structural confined waveguide modes with forwarding evanescent waves of Fabry–Pérot resonance. For 0.1–1 THz waves, the short wavelengths that are both less than half the metal slit width and 3.75 times the metal thickness can lead to zero dispersion and the highest confinement factor in a slab–waveguide for PPMS-confined THz waves. This behavior is opposite to the high structural dispersion in confined THz waves of surface plasmonic devices.

Free electron terahertz source based on dielectric gratings.

Terahertz wave sources are essential for the development of terahertz technology. A terahertz radiation source based on dielectric gratings driven by free electrons is proposed in this paper. Electrons emitted by the emitter excite spoof surface plasmons (SSPs) when passing above the structure. Simulation results demonstrate that dielectric gratings enhance the field intensity and electron-structure interaction compared with metal gratings. Additionally, different dielectric materials can be utilized to offer greater flexibility in adjusting radiation characteristics while keeping the structure simple and manufacturable. The use of dielectric materials reduces the metal ohmic loss in the terahertz band. The structure supports on-chip integration, offering a new approach for developing efficient and compact free electron terahertz sources.

Full‐angle beam scanning leaky‐wave antenna array based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

AbstractA design scheme of high‐gain and full‐angle frequency beam scanning leaky wave antenna (LWA) and array is proposed based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) slow‐wave transmission line (TL) for radar field applications. A row of complementary split ring resonators is periodically etched near the SSPPs TL, which can transform the fundamental mode of SSPPs TL to the fast‐wave region and radiate electromagnetic waves, realising the full‐angle frequency beam scanning performance. A 1‐to‐2 microwave power divider is designed to feed the LWA array and realised good impedance matching covers 5.8–9.4 GHz bandwidth. Simulation and experimental results indicate that the designed LWA array can realise full‐angle beam scanning range of 180° (−90° to 90°) with a scanning rate of 3.83°/% performance. The peak gain values of the designed LWA element and array are 11.4dBi and 14.6 dBi, respectively, and the radiation efficiency of LWA array is maintained more than 80% within the operation frequency band.

E-plane waveguide bandpass filters based on high-order modes of spoof surface plasmon polaritons

In this paper, a new design method of E-plane waveguide bandpass filter (BPF) using high-order modes of spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) is proposed. The high-order modes of the double-layer SSPP (DL-SSPP) unit cell can be effectively manipulated by adjusting the dimensions of grounded metallic patterns in SSPP array, which mainly determines the filtering characteristics of E-plane waveguide BPFs. For improving the out-of-band rejection, two extra transmission zeros (TZs) are designed at the upper and lower stopbands of E-plane waveguide BPF, and then the operating mechanism of TZs is clearly investigated. Moreover, the filtering characteristics of the E-plane waveguide BPF with different transition parts are discussed to demonstrate the generalization of proposed design method. To verify the design feasibility, two examples of E-plane waveguide BPF are fabricated and measured. Good agreement between measurements and simulations shows that the proposed design method possesses good potential for the applications of high-performance E-plane waveguide BPF design.

Plasmonic Radiation from Spin-Momentum Locking.

Chiral light emission plays a key role in sensing, tomography, quantum communication, among others. Whereas, achieving highly pure, tunable chirality emission across a broad spectrum currently presents significant challenges. Free-electron radiation emerges as a promising solution to surpass these barriers, especially in hard-to-reach regimes. Here, chiral free-electron radiation is presented by exploiting the spin-momentum locking (SML) property of spoof surface plasmons (SSPs). When the phase velocity of free electrons matches that of the SSPs, the SSPs can be excited. By implementing wavenumber compensation through perturbations, the confined SSPs are transformed into free-space free-electron radiation. Owing to the law of angular momentum conservation, this process converts the transverse spin angular momentum of SSPs into the longitudinal spin angular momentum of free-electron radiation during the process, producing pure, tunable, and chiral free-electron radiation across a broad spectrum. This method achieves an optimal degree of circular polarization approaching -1. The innovative methodology can be adapted to SML-enabled guided states or silicon photonics platforms, offering new avenues for achieving chiral emission.

A Small-Aperture and High-Performance Endfire Holographic Antenna Based on Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons

A Small-Aperture and High-Performance Endfire Holographic Antenna Based on Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons

Spoof surface plasmon Polaritons dual beam scanning antenna for 5G application

Dual beam scanning (DBS) antenna exited by two different spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) transmission lines is proposed in this paper. The antenna is constructed by placing three rows of circular patches on both sides of two different planar SSPPs waveguide. These patches convert the SSPP guided waves into radiating waves. This simple single-layer antenna is characterized by dual without need to use switches or other complex configurations. It is designed to support application of several 5G sub-6 GHz bands (3.5 (n78) GHz, 3.7 (n77) GHz, and 4.5 (n79) GHz). The proposed antenna realizes the dual beam scanning by controlling the dispersion properties and field confinement along two different SSPPs transmission lines, based on different propagation constant. Numerical simulations are carried out by CST Microwave Studio and Ansys HFSS. These numerical simulations are verified by experimental results over the operating frequency band from 1 GHz to 6 GHz.

Terahertz spoof plasmonic neural network for diffractive information recognition and processing

All-optical diffractive neural networks, as analog artificial intelligence accelerators, leverage parallelism and analog computation for complex data processing. However, their low space transmission efficiency or large spatial dimensions hinder miniaturization and broader application. Here, we propose a terahertz spoof plasmonic neural network on a planar diffractive platform for direct multi-target recognition. Our approach employs a spoof surface plasmon polariton coupler array to construct a diffractive network layer, resulting in a compact, efficient, and easily integrable architecture. We designed three schemes: basis vector classification, multi-user recognition, and MNIST handwritten digit classification. Experimental results reveal that the terahertz spoof plasmonic neural network successfully classifies basis vectors, recognizes multi-user orientation information, and directly processes handwritten digits using a designed input framework comprising a metal grating array, transmitters, and receivers. This work broadens the application of terahertz plasmonic metamaterials, paving the way for terahertz on-chip integration, intelligent communication, and advanced computing systems.

WR-4 Band Wideband Waveguide Diplexer Based on Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons and Its Application in Terahertz Communications

WR-4 Band Wideband Waveguide Diplexer Based on Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons and Its Application in Terahertz Communications

Simulation and measurement of electromagnetic wave propagations along a wearable e-textile metasurface transmission line

This study introduces a compact wearable metasurface transmission line operating at 2.45 GHz, utilizing spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP). The design incorporates a periodic arrangement of hook unit cells and a tapering structure to enhance coupling efficiency between the microstrip feed line and the metasurface transmission line. For its implementation, a dielectric substrate composed entirely of cotton denim jeans is employed, along with e-textile conductive traces and a ground plane. Electromagnetic wave propagation along the transmission line is simulated, and the primary wave mode and associated propagation characteristics are analyzed. Both simulation and measurement results confirm the successful performance of the metasurface transmission line for on-body signal transmissions.

Reconfigurable terahertz stretchable spoof surface plasmon polariton waveguide for filter applications

In this paper, a reconfigurable terahertz spoof surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waveguide is proposed on a stretchable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The SPP unit incorporates a folded stub and a conventional V-shaped SPP groove, enhancing the equivalent capacitance and consequently reducing the cutoff frequency. The cutoff frequency of the proposed SPP unit can be tuned from 285 to 390 GHz with stretchable factors of 1 ∼ 1.2, thereby achieving a reconfigurable operating frequency. The horizontal dimension of the proposed SPP waveguide can be tuned from 6.36 mm to 7.12 mm. Moreover, the SPP waveguide can generate transmission continuous phase shifts of −30°, −60°, −90°, and −120° with stretchable factors of 1.05, 1.1, 1.15, and 1.2, respectively, in the 150–190 GHz band. Applying the characteristic mode theory, a split ring resonator (SRR) functions as the equivalent magnetic dipole, which remains unaffected by stretchable deformation. When loaded with four SRR cells, the proposed SPP waveguide generates a tunable passband with a fixed notched frequency at 193 GHz. Another stretchable SPP resonator serves as the equivalent electric dipole, operating from 284 GHz to 256 GHz in 1∼1.2 stretchable states. By loading three SPP resonators, the SPP waveguide can achieve a passband for the initial state, and a tunable stopband is introduced under 1.1 and 1.2 stretchable states. The proposed stretchable method provides a promising solution for planar terahertz components and systems with reconfigurable functions.