Simulation and Analysis of a Metamaterial Filter on a Flexible Liquid Crystal Polymer Substrate

Abstract

Since 1968 there has been an ever increasing interest in the study of metamaterials. These man-made substances have tremendous potential to change the scientific study of optics, communications, and the overall RF regime. Several types of structures have been proposed to realize metamaterials, but none more common than the split ring resonator and the complementary split ring resonator. Using the capabilities of the complementary split ring resonator coupled to a single-ended microstrip transmission line can yield a myriad of wide-band filtering affects across a designed frequency range. These filters include stop band, high pass, and band pass configurations. When combined with a flexible substrate, these filters further progress the optical studies of metamaterial filters. Evaluating these filters without fabrication requires a powerful simulation tool. Ansys’s High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) is such a tool. With it, the aforementioned filters were designed and analyzed. A liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate made it possible to design both planar filters and filters bent around a specified radius of curvature. The purpose of this thesis is to compare and analyze the scattering parameters of the planar structures to the curved structures in hopes they will produce similar results. Wide-band filters with consistent behavior across various degrees of inflection have the potential to propel metamaterials research into a new era.