Flexible microwave sensor films based on nested-complementary split ring resonator for liquid dielectric constant detection

This paper proposes a flexible double-sided attached microwave sensor film for real-time measurement of the liquid dielectric constant, and proposes a nested-complementary split ring resonator(NCSRR)structure with high sensitivity and quality factor values that is based on the structure evolution of a complementary split ring resonator(CSRR). The sensor films are composed of a ground film with an NCSRR structure and a U-shaped microstrip line film. By taking a borosilicate glass beaker and a polypropylene beaker as examples, two types of microwave sensors are formed by attaching films to both sides of the beakers. Lubricating oil with 0%- 25% water content is added to the beakers separately, and the dielectric constants of the mixture are characterized nondestructively by the transmission coefficient (S21) of the device. According to the mathematical model established from the measurement results, the resonant frequencies of both sensors are linearly and negatively correlated with the dielectric constant of the liquid to be measured, which proves that the sensor film can be attached to a substrate with arbitrary curvature to form a microwave resonant sensor.