Broadside Coupled Split Ring Resonator as a Sensitive Tunable Sensor for Efficient Detection of Mechanical Vibrations

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of the precise determination of mechanical vibrations using metamaterial split ring resonator (SRR) structure. The amplitude of the interacting electromagnetic wave in the range of GHz frequency is directly varied in accordance with the amplitude of mechanical vibration, using a Broadside Coupled SRR (BCSRR) acting as a vibration sensor. Dependence of the spacing between the two rings on the resonance frequency of the BCSRR is used for the detection of vibration and it is achieved by allowing the spacing to change in accordance with the amplitude of mechanical vibration. For the effective sensing of mechanical vibration, the electromagnetic wave frequency is chosen at the center of the linear portion of the rising or the falling slope of the resonant curve of the BCSRR. By properly choosing the parameters of the BCSRR along with the effective tuning of the operating frequency, it is possible to detect even very weak vibrations. The chances of various distortions in the detected vibration waveform in connection with selection of the operating frequency and intensity of vibrations are also analyzed. The qualitative formulation of the detection process along with its experimental verification is presented. This novel method may find applications in the detection of mechanical vibrations caused by various man made and natural sources and may find manifold possibilities in the field of communication and instrumentation.