Tunable metamaterials

• US 9,369,106 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2013
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Yonak, Serdar H., Mau, Frederick W. II, Nguyen, Vinh N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pascal, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): STEVENS, GERALD D
• Application Number:
  US13/940,989
• Publication Number:
  US 20130307644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,068 Days
• Field of Search: 333/175, 333/176, 333/185, 333/204, 333/205, 333/219, 333/235
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 1/20381 Special shape resonators
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 7/082 Microstripline resonators H01P7/088 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 7/00 Multiple-port networks comprising only passive electrical elements as network components receiver input circuits H04B1/18; networks simulating a length of communication cable H04B3/40

Abstract

A metamaterial comprises a support medium, such as a planar dielectric substrate and a plurality of resonant circuits supported thereby. At least one resonant circuit is a tunable resonant circuit including a conducting pattern and a tunable material, so that an electromagnetic parameter (such as resonance frequency) may be adjusted using an electrical control signal applied to the tunable material.

Claims

1. A metamaterial, comprising:

a support medium;

a plurality of individually and continuously tunable resonant circuits disposed on the support medium,

each of the plurality of individually and continuously tunable resonant circuits including;

a conducting pattern having a variable capacitor and at least one fixed capacitor, the fixed capacitor having a gap which is void of phase change material, the variable capacitor having a capacitive field,

a tunable phase change material positioned within the capacitive field, and

an independent direct electrical connection to each resonant circuit to supply a variable bias voltage electrical control signal to the tunable phase change material;

the tunable phase change material having a permittivity that is continuously adjustable through a range of values using the variable bias voltage electrical control signal; and

wherein the electrical control signal is suitable for independently and simultaneously varying the capacitive field and adjusting the permittivity of the tunable material and thereby a resonance frequency of each of the individually and continuously tunable resonant circuit is individually and continuously tunable according to the variable bias voltage electrical control signal.

2. The metamaterial of claim 1, wherein the support medium is a dielectric substrate, the conducting pattern being disposed on the dielectric substrate.

3. The metamaterial of claim 1, wherein the tunable phase change material is a chalcogenide.

4. The metamaterial of claim 1, wherein the tunable phase change material is disposed within a capacitive gap of the capacitive field of the variable capacitor.

5. The metamaterial of claim 4, wherein the direct electrical connection allows the electrical control signal to be applied across the capacitive gap of the variable capacitor between first and second segments of the conducting pattern, and wherein the first and second segments being coplanar and spaced apart on the support medium so as to form the capacitive gap of the variable capacitor.