Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above, the present invention provides a reconfigurable electromagnetic metamaterial, which solves at least some of the above technical problems.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a reconfigurable electromagnetic metamaterial, including a plurality of electromagnetic metamaterial units, where each electromagnetic metamaterial unit includes: the metal reflection floor comprises a first dielectric plate, a second dielectric plate, a metal reflection floor, a third dielectric plate and a pneumatic switch, wherein a stepped hollow groove and a vertical through hole are formed in the second dielectric plate, and the bottom of the stepped hollow groove is communicated with the vertical through hole; a liquid metal liquid storage tank is arranged in the third medium plate and is communicated with the vertical through hole in the second medium plate; the metal reflection floor consists of a metal patch with a hole, and the center of the metal reflection floor is provided with an opening communicated with the vertical through hole;
the air pressure switch is arranged at the bottom of the third medium plate and is communicated with the liquid metal reservoir in the third medium plate.
According to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the stepped void type comprises at least one of: square, rectangular, circular, triangular, irregular polygonal; the bottom of the stepped empty groove is communicated with the vertical through hole, and the liquid metal is filled into the stepped empty groove layer by layer through the vertical through hole.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the stepped empty groove comprises a plurality of layers of empty grooves, and the plurality of layers of empty grooves are different in size; liquid metal in the multilayer empty grooves with different sizes is filled layer by layer under the control of a pneumatic switch, and the liquid metal in the multilayer empty grooves with different sizes is used for changing the resonant frequency and the reflection phase of the metamaterial.
According to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the metal reflective floor is interconnected with the vertical through hole for forming a liquid metal transfer pipe.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the liquid metal reservoir is used for storing liquid metal and is connected with the air pressure switch.
According to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the liquid metal comprises at least one of: gallium-based liquid metal alloys, bismuth-based liquid metal alloys, indium-based liquid metal alloys, or tin-based liquid metal alloys.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the first dielectric sheet is adapted to cover and seal the stepped recess in the second dielectric sheet.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the stepped empty groove in the second dielectric plate is communicated with the vertical through hole and the liquid metal reservoir in the third dielectric plate.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the air pressure switch is used to control the liquid metal in the liquid metal reservoir to fill the vertical through hole and the stepped empty slot in the second dielectric slab.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the air pressure switch is also used for dynamically adjusting the capacity of the liquid metal filled into the stepped empty groove according to different air pressure values.
According to the technical scheme, the electromagnetic metamaterial has the following beneficial effects:
(1) the invention is based on that the liquid metal replaces the traditional solid metal to form the electromagnetic metamaterial, and the stepped liquid metal is adopted to fill the empty groove, so that the metamaterial can be ensured to have the change of unit size along with the change of step filling, thereby causing the change of resonant frequency and reflection phase, and the reflectivity of the metamaterial formed when each step is filled with the liquid metal layer by layer is basically unchanged, thereby playing the role of reconfigurable frequency and phase.
(2) The electromagnetic metamaterial unit utilizes the air pressure switch to control liquid metal in the liquid metal liquid storage tank to fill the stepped empty tank layer by layer to form the electromagnetic metamaterial unit with the reconfigurable unit size, and liquid metal of each metamaterial unit can be independently controlled, so that the reconfigurable electromagnetic metamaterial with high degree of freedom is formed.
(3) The invention uses the second dielectric plate as the core layer, the first dielectric plate and the third dielectric plate are respectively arranged at two sides of the core layer, the structure is symmetrical and simple, and the invention is compatible with advanced packaging substrate process, low temperature co-fired ceramic process and wafer level process, and is beneficial to realizing system miniaturization.
Detailed Description
For a better understanding of the objects, solutions and advantages of the present invention, reference will now be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and are not intended to indicate or imply relative importance or to implicitly indicate the number of technical features indicated. It should be noted that, if the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. indicate an orientation or a positional relationship based on the orientation or the positional relationship shown in the drawings or the orientation or the positional relationship when the product is used, the description is only for convenience and simplicity, and the indication or the suggestion that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation and be operated, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.
To further make the technical solutions of the present invention more clearly understood, terms indicating directions or positional relationships appearing in the present invention may be referred to in the sequence from top to bottom in fig. 1.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a schematic diagram of a reconfigurable electromagnetic metamaterial unit cross-sectional structure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the electromagnetic metamaterial unit includes a first dielectric slab 1, a second dielectric slab 2, a metal reflective floor 3, a third dielectric slab 4, and a gas pressure switch 8, wherein a stepped hollow groove 5 and a vertical through hole 6 are provided inside the second dielectric slab 2, and a liquid metal reservoir 7 is provided inside the third dielectric slab 4.
The following describes each component of the electromagnetic metamaterial according to the embodiment in detail.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first dielectric sheet 1 may be composed of at least one of: the electromagnetic metamaterial unit comprises an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate or a silicon wafer, wherein a first dielectric plate 1 is arranged on the top of the electromagnetic metamaterial unit and arranged above a second dielectric plate 2.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second dielectric sheet 2 may be composed of at least one of: an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate or a silicon wafer, and a second dielectric plate 2 is disposed below the first dielectric plate 1 and above the metal reflective floor 3.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the second dielectric plate 2 is internally provided with the stepped hollow groove 5 and the vertical through hole 6, and the stepped hollow groove 5 is arranged at the middle upper part of the second dielectric plate 2, the lower part of the first dielectric plate 1 and the top part of the vertical through hole 6. The vertical through holes 6 are arranged at the middle lower part of the second medium plate, the upper part of the metal reflecting floor 3 and the bottom of the stepped empty groove 5.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the type of the stepped void 5 may comprise at least one of: square, rectangular, circular, triangular, irregular polygonal. In the present embodiment, the stepped recess 5 may be of a square type, for example.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the stepped empty grooves 5 are used for filling liquid metal to form basic units of the electromagnetic metamaterial and are composed of a plurality of layers of empty grooves, the size of each layer of empty groove is different, and the size of the empty grooves is increased from bottom to top in sequence. The stepped empty groove 5 is communicated with the vertical through hole 6, and the liquid metal is gradually filled into the stepped empty groove 5 layer by layer through the vertical through hole 6.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the first dielectric plate 1 covers the stepped hollow groove 5 in the second dielectric plate 2, and is used for covering and sealing the liquid metal filled in the stepped hollow groove 5, so that the liquid metal cannot be lost in the filling process.
According to the embodiment of the present invention, the metal reflective floor 3 is made of a patch type metal with holes, and is disposed below the second dielectric plate 2 and above the third dielectric plate 4. The center of the metal reflecting floor is provided with an opening, the aperture size of the opening is larger than that of the vertical through hole 6 in the second medium plate 2, and the opening is communicated with the vertical through hole 6 so as to form a liquid metal filled transmission pipeline.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the third dielectric sheet 4 may be composed of at least one of: the third dielectric plate 4 is disposed under the metal reflective floor 3 in an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, or a silicon wafer.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the second dielectric plate 2 is taken as the core layer, and the first dielectric plate 1 and the third dielectric plate 4 are respectively arranged at two sides of the core layer, so that the structure is symmetrical and simple, the packaging integration can be facilitated, and the system miniaturization can be realized.
According to the embodiment of the invention, a liquid metal liquid storage tank 7 is arranged inside the third dielectric plate 4 and used for storing liquid metal, the side length of the liquid metal liquid storage tank is smaller than that of the third dielectric plate 4, the upper part of the liquid metal liquid storage tank 7 is communicated with the vertical through hole 6 in the second dielectric plate 2, and a notch is arranged below the liquid metal liquid storage tank 7 and communicated with the air pressure switch 8.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the liquid metal used in the liquid metal reservoir 7 may comprise at least one of: gallium-based liquid metal alloys, bismuth-based liquid metal alloys, indium-based liquid metal alloys, or tin-based liquid metal alloys.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the gas pressure switch 8 is disposed below the third dielectric plate 4 and communicates with the liquid metal reservoir 7 in the third dielectric plate 4.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the stepped recess 5 in the second dielectric plate 2 communicates with the vertical through-hole 6 and the liquid metal reservoir 7 in the third dielectric plate 4. The air pressure switch 8 is used for dynamically controlling the liquid metal in the liquid metal liquid storage tank 7 to be filled into the stepped empty groove 5 in the second medium plate 2 from the perpendicular through hole 6 in the second medium plate 2 through following different air pressure values, so that the capacity of the filled stepped empty groove 5 is dynamically adjusted, the liquid metal is filled into different steps in the stepped empty groove 5, the size of the electromagnetic metamaterial unit is changed, and the change of the resonant frequency and the reflection phase is caused.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the liquid metal is used for replacing the traditional solid metal to form the periodic unit of the electromagnetic metamaterial, the deflection and control of the beam can be adjusted by dynamically controlling the frequency and phase change of the electromagnetic metamaterial, and more degrees of freedom are provided for the design of the electromagnetic metamaterial.
FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a schematic diagram of a front view of an electromagnetic metamaterial unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the periodic unit metal part of the electromagnetic metamaterial may be composed of a square stepped hollow groove 5, a vertical through hole 6, and a metal reflective floor 3. The stepped recess is specifically described by way of example as a four-layer square stepped recess configuration in which the side lengths are sequentially changed.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electromagnetic metamaterial is composed of a plurality of periodic units, the plurality of periodic units share the first dielectric plate 1, the second dielectric plate 2, the third dielectric plate 3 and the metal reflective floor 3, referring to the cross-sectional view of fig. 1, the metal reflective floor 3 in the front view of the electromagnetic metamaterial unit in fig. 2 is included in the second dielectric plate 2 and is not labeled.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the stepped empty groove 5 is formed by four layers of square stepped empty grooves with sequentially changed side lengths, the side lengths of the four layers of square stepped empty grooves are different, the side lengths of the square stepped empty grooves of the layers are increased progressively from bottom to top, and the side length of the square stepped empty groove at the bottom is the minimum.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the square stepped empty groove 5 is communicated with the vertical through hole 6 below the square stepped empty groove, liquid metal is filled into the stepped empty groove 5 through the vertical through hole 6, and the size of the periodic unit of the electromagnetic metamaterial changes along with the filling change of steps due to the fact that the sizes of the square stepped empty grooves of all layers are different.
For example, FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a diagram of electromagnetic metamaterial unit size as a function of liquid metal, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in (1) to (4) of fig. 3, the filling of the liquid metal of the electromagnetic metamaterial unit is controlled by the air pressure switch 8, and when the air pressure is different, the liquid metal is filled from the liquid metal reservoir 7 in the third dielectric plate 4 to the first layer, the second layer, the third layer and the fourth layer from bottom to top in the stepped empty tank 5 through the communicated vertical through holes 6.
According to the embodiment of the invention, as the side length of the square groove from bottom to top of the square stepped hollow groove 5 filled with the liquid metal is increased layer by layer, the size of the electromagnetic metamaterial unit is increased, so that the resonance frequency is reduced, the frequency reconstruction can be realized, meanwhile, the reflection phase of the periodic unit of the electromagnetic metamaterial is also changed, and the deflection control of the wave beam can be realized by utilizing the change of the phase.
Fig. 4 schematically shows a schematic view of an electromagnetic metamaterial according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole. As shown in fig. 4, the electromagnetic metamaterial 9 is composed of periodic units including, but not limited to, 8 × 8 liquid metal-based electromagnetic metamaterials.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electromagnetic metamaterial 9 is composed of an array of periodic units of each liquid metal based electromagnetic metamaterial. The side length of the liquid metal filled in the square stepped empty groove 5 is independently controlled by the air pressure switch 8 below each periodic unit of the electromagnetic metamaterial 9, so that the unit size in each periodic unit is controlled, the frequency and phase change is caused, and the reconfigurable effect of the frequency and the phase of the electromagnetic metamaterial is realized.
The above-mentioned embodiments of reconfigurable electromagnetic metamaterial have been described in further detail for illustrating the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention, it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are only illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention, and any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements and the like made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.