A Microwave Differential Dielectric Sensor Based on Mode Splitting of Coupled Resonators

This study explores the viability of using the avoided mode crossing phenomenon in the microwave regime to design microwave differential sensors. While the design concept can be applied to any type of planar electrically small resonators, here, it is implemented on split-ring resonators (SRRs). We use two coupled synchronous SRRs loaded onto a two-port microstrip line system to demonstrate the avoided mode crossing by varying the distance between the split of the resonators to control the coupling strength. As the coupling becomes stronger, the split in the resonance frequencies of the system increases. Alternatively, by controlling the strength of the coupling by materials under test (MUTs), we utilize the system as a microwave differential sensor. First, the avoided mode crossing is theoretically investigated using the classical microwave coupled resonator techniques. Then, the system is designed and simulated using a 3D full-wave numerical simulation. To validate the concept, a two-port microstrip line, which is magnetically coupled to two synchronous SRRs, is utilized as a sensor, where the inter-resonator coupling is chosen to be electric coupling controlled by the dielectric constant of MUTs. For the experimental validation, the sensor was fabricated using printed circuit board technology. Two solid slabs with dielectric constants of 2.33 and 9.2 were employed to demonstrate the potential of the system as a novel differential microwave sensor.