A planar microwave resonator with odd resonance for calibration in permanent moisture sensing applications

A cylindrical dual-mode planar microwave ring resonator for a permanent moisture sensor is presented. The ring is design for TMn10 fundamental (odd-mode) resonance, and optimized to sustain stability (suitable for calibration reference against environmental interference) using Ansys high-frequency structure simulator. An even-mode resonance is perturbed by etching a step-impedance stub on the upper 0.5 lambda ring. The equations for the TMn10 mode resonance and its mode splitting are stated. The equivalent circuits of the ring, odd-, and even-modes are derived. The even-mode is set to capture the response of the permanent moisture withholding hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-polyaniline (PANI) 0.26mm-thick films. The in-lab made films are produced by infusing certain concentrations of PANI into pure PVA. On-spot measurements using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and time-based continuous data acquisitions using LabVIEW on NI PXIe-1075 VNA are done to confirm repeatability of the obtained results. A measured permanent moisture response of 180MHz is confirmed for 50% PANI with a thickness (h(film)) of 0.55mm. The sources of permanent moisture withholding capability of the films are investigated. Structural observation of the residue films, its permittivity changes, and morphological structural imagery confirmed the sources of permanent response.

Automated summary

A cylindrical dual-mode planar microwave ring resonator designed for a permanent moisture sensor shows stability and accuracy through optimization and experimental validation.