Multi-Scale Artificial Dielectric Materials and Their Applications

本研究的目的是发现、研究和应用低损耗、高介电常数的高频人工电磁材料。特别令人感兴趣的是可以用低温方法印刷的材料，使其能够直接集成到各种电磁设备中。该方法是基于对这些材料的理论、模拟、制造和测量的综合计划来证明它们的性质。智力优势：本研究的重点是多尺度人工介电材料。这种用于射频/微波电路的新型材料的潜在变革特性是通过在不同长度尺度上同时结合多种介电增强效应而获得的，从而产生非常大的有效介电常数和小的损耗正切。这些多尺度人工电介质区别于其他材料的关键属性是低损耗和可印刷性。利用这些特性及其空间可定制性，新型人工材料将应用于(1)平面天线小型化和增益增强，以及(2)微波滤波器性能增强和小型化。更广泛的影响：预计这项新技术将有广泛的工程应用，对社会有特殊的好处。工业和学术实验室可以从这种人工材料中受益，但由于设计、制造和将这些材料集成到其设备和子系统中的复杂性而受到阻碍，因此可以预见这种技术的广泛应用。这项研究将包括研究生和本科生的参与。研究结果将整合到两门研究生课程中，并通过互联网传播部分内容。

The objective of this research is the discovery, investigation, and application of low loss, high dielectric constant artificial electromagnetic materials at high frequencies. Of particular interest are materials that can be printed with low temperature methods enabling their direct integration into a wide range of electromagnetic devices. The approach is based on a comprehensive plan of theory, simulation, fabrication and measurement of these materials to prove their properties.Intellectual Merit: The main focus of this research is on multi-scale artificial dielectric materials. Potentially transformative properties of this new class of materials for RF/microwave circuits are obtained through simultaneous incorporation of multiple dielectric enhancement effects on different length scales resulting in a very large effective dielectric constant with small loss tangent. The key attributes of these multi-scale artificial dielectrics that distinguish them from others are low loss and printability. Using these properties and their spatial tailorability, the new artificial materials will be applied to (1) planar antenna miniaturization and gain enhancement, and (2) microwave filter performance enhancement and miniaturization.Broader Impacts: It is anticipated that this new technology will have broad engineering application with special benefit to society. Wide utilization of this technology is foreseen in industrial and academic labs that can benefit from such artificial materials but have been prevented by complexities in designing, manufacturing, and integrating these materials into their devices and subsystems. The research will include both graduate and undergraduate student participation. The research findings will be integrated into two graduate courses and parts disseminated via the internet.