Accurate Modelling of Liquid Crystal-Based Microwave Devices

Abstract

Liquid crystal substrates have been shown to provide the means to develop low-cost, reconfigurable, adaptive and tuneable microwave devices for mobile and wireless communication systems. In order to take maximum advantage of the possibilities that these materials offer and to design LC-based devices appropriately, techniques for the characterisation of the liquid crystal dielectric properties are needed. Similarly, appropriate modelling methods are required to simulate accurately the switching behaviour of the liquid crystal and the characteristics of the wave propagation through the devices, taking full consideration of the point-by-point variation of the material tensor permittivity.

Keywords:

• Liquid crystals
• microwave devices
• tuneable microwave devices
• reconfigurable microwave devices

Funding

This work has been funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC.