Tunable left-hand characteristics in multi-nested square-split-ring enabled metamaterials

Left-hand materials have drawn increasing attention from many disciplines and found widespread application, especially in microwave engineering. A sandwiched metamaterial consisting of multi-nested square-split-ring resonators on the top side and a set of wires on the back side is proposed. Scattering parameters are retrieved by high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) software based on the finite element method. Effects of square-split-ring number on the left-hand characteristics containing negative values of permittivity, permeability, and refractive index have been intensively investigated. Simulated results show that obvious resonant left-hand characteristics could be observed within 8-18 GHz, and the resonant frequency counts are inclined to be in direct proportion to the square-split-ring number over 8-18 GHz. Besides, the proposed sandwiched metamaterial with three square-split-ring resonators and three wires presents the widest frequency band of left-hand characteristics in a range of 8-18 GHz. Further, electromagnetic field distributions demonstrated that the induced magnetic dipole dominates the resonant absorption. The multi-peak resonance characteristics of square-split-ring resonant structure are considered to be a promising candidate for selective-frequency absorption or modulation toward microwave frequency band.