Periodically loaded dipole array supporting left-handed propagation

Periodically loaded dipole arrays printed on grounded dielectric substrate are shown to exhibit left-handed propagation properties. In an equivalent transmission line representation, lefthandedness emerges due to the excess series capacitance and shunt inductance. Based on this concept, the authors study the distribution of the modal fields and the variation of series capacitance and shunt inductance as the dipoles are loaded with stubs. Full wave dispersion curves that show the gradual transition from a right-handed to a left-handed medium upon periodically loading the dipoles with stubs are presented. An equivalent circuit is derived that matches to a very good extent the full wave result. The cell dimensions are a small fraction of the wavelength (),15), so the structure can be considered as an equivalent homogeneous surface. The structure is simple, readily scalable to higher frequencies and compatible with low-cost fabrication techniques.

Efficient modeling of novel uniplanar left-handed metamaterials

This paper presents an efficient. modeling technique for the derivation of the dispersion characteristics of novel uniplanar metallodielectric periodic structures. The analysis is based on the method of moments and an interpolation scheme, which significantly accelerates the computations. Triangular basis functions are used that allow for modeling of arbitrary shaped metallic elements. Based on this method, novel uniplanar left-handed (LH) metamaterials are proposed. Variations of the split rectangular-loop element printed on grounded dielectric substrate are demonstrated to possess LH propagation properties. Full-wave dispersion curves are presented. Based on the dual transmission-line concept, we study the distribution of the modal fields And the variation of series capacitance and shunt inductance for all the proposed elements. A verification of the left-handedness is presented by means of full-wave simulation of finite uniplanar arrays using commercial software (HFSS). The cell dimensions are a small fraction of the wavelength (approximately lambda/24) so that the structures can he considered as a homogeneous effective medium. The structures are simple, readily scalable to higher frequencies, and compatible with low-cost fabrication techniques.

Uniplanar left-handed artificial metamaterials

Planar periodic arrays of metallic elements printed on grounded dielectric substrates are presented to exhibit left-handed properties for surface wave propagation. The proposed structures dispense with the need for grounding vias and ease the implementation of uniplanar left-handed metamaterials at higher frequencies. A transmission line description is used for the initial design and interpretation of the left-handed property. A thorough study based on full wave simulations is carried out with regards to the effect of the element geometrical characteristics and the array periodicity to the properties of the artificial material. Dispersion curves are presented and studied. The distribution of the modal fields in the unit cell is also studied in order to provide an explanation of the material properties. The scalability of the proposed structures to infrared frequencies is demonstrated.

A Modified Pole-Zero Technique for the Synthesis of Waveguide Leaky-Wave Antennas Loaded With Dipole-Based FSS

An extension of the pole-zero matching method proposed by Stefano Maci et al. for the analysis of electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures composed by lossless dipole-based frequency selective surfaces (FSS) printed on stratified dielectric media, is presented in this paper. With this novel expansion, the dipoles length appears as a variable in the analytical dispersion equation. Thus, modal dispersion curves as a function of the dipoles length can be easily obtained with the only restriction of single Floquet mode propagation. These geometry-dispersion curves are essential for the efficient analysis and design of practical EBG structures, such as waveguides loaded with artificial magnetic conductors (AMC) for miniaturization, or leaky-wave antennas (LWA) using partially reflective surfaces (PRS). These two practical examples are examined in this paper. Results are compared with full-wave 2D and 3D simulations showing excellent agreement, thus validating the proposed technique and illustrating its utility for practical designs.

1D-Leaky Wave Antenna Employing Parallel-Plate Waveguide Loaded With PRS and HIS

A new type of one-dimensional leaky-wave antenna (LWA) with independent control of the beam-pointing angle and beamwidth is presented. The antenna is based on a simple structure composed of a bulk parallel-plate waveguide (PPW) loaded with two printed circuit boards (PCBs), each one consisting of an array of printed dipoles. One PCB acts as a partially reflective surface (PRS), and the other grounded PCB behaves as a high impedance surface (HIS). It is shown that an independent control of the leaky-mode phase and leakage rate can be achieved by changing the lengths of the PRS and HIS dipoles, thus resulting in a flexible adjustment of the LWA pointing direction and directivity. The leaky-mode dispersion curves are obtained with a simple Transverse Equivalent Network (TEN), and they are validated with three-dimensional full-wave simulations. Experimental results on fabricated prototypes operating at 15 GHz are reported, demonstrating the versatile and independent control of the LWA performance by changing the PRS and HIS parameters.

Theoretical and photoemission studies of the band structure of CdI

The band structure of CdI has been calculated using a modified semi-empirical tight-binding method and the results obtained have been compared with both angularly averaged and angularly resolved photoemission spectra. The theoretically computed density of states distribution is in excellent agreement with angularly averaged results and all the main features observed experimentally are reproduced in the theory. Angularly resolved spectra have been used to draw up energy band dispersion curves directly and agreement with calculated bands in both the Gamma M and Gamma K directions of the Brillouin zone is good.

CALCULATION OF SLOW MODE SURFACE-PLASMON POLARITON PROPERTIES RELATED TO EXPERIMENTAL-OBSERVATIONS

Recent experimental results definitively showed, for the first time, optical radiation mediated by the slow mode surface plasmon polariton of metal-oxide-metal tunnel junctions. Here, dispersion curves for this mode are calculated. They are consistent with first-order grating coupling to light at the energies of the experimental emission peaks. The curves are then used to analyze second-order and high-energy (> 2.35 eV) grating coupling of the polaritons to radiation. Finally, variation of slow mode damping as a function of energy is used to explain qualitatively the relative experimental peak emission intensities and the absence of radiation peaks above 2.35 eV.

Time-lapse Monitoring of the Slopes of a Heritage Earthwork by Means of Near-surface Seismic Techniques

A significant portion of UK’s infrastructures earthworks was built more than 100 years ago, without modern construction standards: poor maintenance and the change of precipitations pattern experienced in the past decades are currently compromising their stability, leading to an increasing number of failures. To address the need for a reliable and time-efficient monitoring of earthworks at risk of failure we propose here the use of two established seismic techniques for the characterization of the near surface, MASW and P-wave refraction. We have regularly collected MASW and P-wave refraction data, from March 2014 to February 2015, along 4 reduced-scale seismic lines located on the flanks of a heritage railway embankment located in Broadway, SW of England. We have observed a definite temporal variability in terms of phase velocities of SW dispersion curves and of P-wave travel times. The accurate choice of ad-hoc inversion strategies has allowed to reconstruct reliable VP and VS models through which it is potentially possible to track the temporal variations of geo-mechanical properties of the embankment slopes. The variability over time of seismic data and seismic velocities seems to correlate well with rainfall data recorded in the days immediately preceding the date of acquisition.

Molecular documentation of polyembryony and the micro-spatial dispersion of clonal sibships in the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus.

A battery of allelic markers at highly polymorphic microsatellite loci was developed and employed to confirm genetically the clonal nature of sibships in nine-banded armadillos. This phenomenon of consistent polyembryony, otherwise nearly unknown among the vertebrates, then was capitalized upon to describe the micro-spatial distributions of numerous clonal sibships in a natural population of armadillos. Adult clonemates were significantly more dispersed than were juvenile sibs, suggesting limited opportunities for altruistic behavioral interactions among mature individuals. These results, and considerations of armadillo natural history, suggest that evolutionary explanations for polyembryony in this species may not reside in the kinds of ecological and kin selection theories relevant to some of the polyembryonic invertebrates. Rather, polyembryony in armadillos may be associated evolutionarily with other reproductive peculiarities of the species, including delayed uterine implantation of a single egg.

Solving the advection-dispersion equation using the discrete puff particle method

A flexible, mass-conservative numerical technique for solving the advection-dispersion equation for miscible contaminant transport is presented. The method combines features of puff transport models from air pollution studies with features from the random walk particle method used in water resources studies, providing a deterministic time-marching algorithm which is independent of the grid Peclet number and scales from one to higher dimensions simply. The concentration field is discretised into a number of particles, each of which is treated as a point release which advects and disperses over the time interval. The dispersed puff is itself discretised into a spatial distribution of particles whose masses can be pre-calculated. Concentration within the simulation domain is then calculated from the mass distribution as an average over some small volume. Comparison with analytical solutions for a one-dimensional fixed-duration concentration pulse and for two-dimensional transport in an axisymmetric flow field indicate that the algorithm performs well. For a given level of accuracy the new method has lower computation times than the random walk particle method.

A comparison of a range of models for dispersion in a partially stratified room

A comparative study of models used to predict contaminant dispersion in a partially stratified room is presented. The experiments were carried out in a ventilated test room, with an initially evenly dispersed pollutant. Air was extracted from the outlet in the ceiling of the room at 1 and 3 air changes per hour. A small temperature difference between the top and bottom of the room causes very low air velocities, and higher concentrations, in the lower half of the room. Grid-independent CFD calculations were compared with predictions from a zonal model and from CFD using a very coarse grid. All the calculations show broadly similar contaminant concentration decay rates for the three locations monitored in the experiments, with the zonal model performing surprisingly well. For the lower air change rate, the models predict a less well mixed contaminant distribution than the experimental measurements suggest. With run times of less than a few minutes, the zonal model is around two orders of magnitude faster than coarse-grid CFD and could therefore be used more easily in parametric studies and sensitivity analyses. For a more detailed picture of internal dispersion, a CFD study using coarse and standard grids may be more appropriate.