MULTI-NEGATIVE INDEX BAND METAMATERIAL-INSPIRED MICROFLUIDIC SENSORS

Simple, compact and high sensitivity metamaterial-inspired microfluid sensors are developed to detect and classify dielectric fluids in the X-band regime using reflection coefficients. Multinegative refractive index band metamaterial structure is specifically designed as a sensing enhancer, where the multi-negative bands can effectively trigger the electromagnetic properties, as well as enhance the differentiation between the testing samples. The geometry of the metamaterial enhancer and its arrangement with the microfluidic channel and radiating patch antenna are optimized to reach the highest sensitivity of the samples’ depiction. The proposed sensors were tested on ethanol traces, where sets of complex permittivity were varied. Distinguishable frequency responses generated from different samples at four resonances specify the capability of classifying the fluid concentration.