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2 years ago in Metamaterials By Pravin Patel

How does unit cell scaling factor affect metamaterial antenna resonance and radiation efficiency?

I’ve been reading about metamaterial antennas and how they use sub-wavelength unit cells to control things like permittivity and permeability. I understand that changing the cell size shifts the resonance frequency, but it seems like making them too small can increase losses and reduce efficiency. How do designers find the right balance between compact size, strong resonance, and manageable conductor loss for real-world performance across different frequency bands?

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By Garima Chauhan Answered 1 year ago

 Scaling factor directly shifts resonance frequency (smaller cell → higher frequency). However, efficiency drops if cells become too small relative to wavelength, as ohmic losses dominate. There’s an optimal cell size ≈ λ/10 to λ/4 for balanced resonance strength and acceptable conductor loss. Overly dense lattices also increase mutual coupling and narrow bandwidth.
 

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