Appl Phys A (2011) 103: 607610

DOI 10.1007/s00339-011-6373-5

Parametric studies on left-handed metamaterial consist

of modified split-ring resonator and capacitance loaded strip
H.A. Majid M.K.A. Rahim

Received: 7 January 2010 / Accepted: 3 December 2010 / Published online: 8 April 2011
Springer-Verlag 2011

Abstract This paper describes a new structure of lefthanded metamaterial (LHM) based on parametric studies
using Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software.
The LHM structure is a combination of the modified square
rectangular split ring (MSRR) and the capacitance loaded
strip (CLS). In this paper, the parametric studies are used to
see the effect of frequency and the negative value range of
permeability (r ) and permittivity (r ) toward changes of
LHM parameters. The changes in the dimension of MSSR
and CLS affect the S11 and S21 of the LHM structure which
will affect the values of permeability and permittivity. The
values of permeability and permittivity were extracted from
the reflection and transmission coefficient data. The studies
proved that the LHM structure can be designed within the
frequency range of interest.

1 Introduction
In 1968 Veselago [1] studied the electrodynamics of substances with simultaneously negative values of dielectric
permittivity () and magnetic permeability (). In such a
medium, the electric field, the magnetic field, and the propagation vector forms a left-handed, and this medium has been
named left-handed metamaterial (LHM). In recent years,
metamaterials with simultaneously negative values of dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability have been
H.A. Majid () M.K.A. Rahim
Department of Radio Communication Engineering, Faculty of
Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310,
UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
e-mail: huda_set@yahoo.com
M.K.A. Rahim
e-mail: mkamal@fke.utm.my

discussed in many papers and journals [2, 3]. In 1996, an

array of strip wires (SW) was exposed to have plasma frequency in the microwave regime. By decreasing the plasma
frequency of the structure, it can produce an effective negative permittivity with relatively small losses [4]. Then, in
1999, an array composed of split-ring resonators (SRR) was
proposed, where it exhibits a negative magnetic permeability in the resonance region [5]. The first LHM was proposed
when these two structures were combined, and it was shown
that the real parts of the electric permittivity and magnetic
permeability were negative. Its property suggests the possibility of using LHM as alternative to conventional curved
lenses or reflectors for highly directive antennas [6, 7].
In this paper, the parametric study of LHM has been analyzed to demonstrate the effect of resonant frequency and the
values of r and r . The initial dimension of the LHM unit
cell is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of one MSRR between two
pairs of CLSs in planar form. The MSRR produces magnetic
material-like responses and exhibits the negative permittivity, while the CLS produces strong dielectric-like responses
and exhibits the negative permeability [8]. The parameters
of the structure are:
The width of gaps W2 and G1 is 0.5 mm.
The gap between two CLSs is G3 = 1 mm.
The width of CLS, W1 = 1 mm.
The inner SRR is L3 = 7.1 mm.
The height of the CLS inclusions, L1 = 15.1 mm.
The length of the full capacitance strips is L4 = 13.1 mm.
Length of the half strips is L5 = 6.55 mm.
The length of the outer MSRR, L2 , and the gap between
SRR and CLS, G2 , are varied.
The dielectric constant of the substrate is 4.7 with a thickness of 1.6 mm and a tangential loss of 0.019.

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2 Boundary condition for the simulation setup

Figure 2 illustrates the simulated structure. The simulation
of LHM has been done using Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software. The perfect magnetic conductor (PMC)
boundary condition is set on the front and back faces of the
block in Z-axis, and the perfect electric conductor (PEC)
boundary condition is set on the top and bottom of the block
in the Y-axis. The E-field of the incident wave is polarized
along Y-axis, while the H-field of the incident wave is polarized along z-axis, and the wave propagate is in X direction.
Through this configuration, the S-parameters (S11 and
S21 ) data are collected and exported to MathCAD for the
calculation of the LHM region using the modified NRW Approach [9]. Thus, two parameters of the unit cell (L2 and
G2 ) are varied in order to study the influence in the determination of the resonant frequency and the values of r
and r .

3 Parametric studies and analysis of left-handed

metamaterial
3.1 Gap between MSRR and CLS, G2
The results are plotted and shown in Fig. 3 and Table 1. The
effect of the resonant frequency and the values of r and r
are observed by varying the gap between the MSRR and the

H.A. Majid, M.K.A. Rahim

CLS, G2 . Only the gap G2 is varied while other dimension

of the MSRR is fixed, where W2 and G1 are 0.5 mm, L2 =
9.1 mm, and L3 = 7.1 mm.
Figure 3 shows the relationship between gap G2 and resonant frequency. By varying the gap G2 to a higher value,
the resonant frequency is shifted to the lower region of frequency band. Table 1 shows that the range of negative r
and negative r is shifted to the lower region as the value
of the gap increases. Varying the gap G2 , the CLS inclusion
L1 and CLS length L4 also vary. Table 2 shows the correlation between the gap G2 and CLS inclusion L1 , while Table
3 shows the correlation between the gap G2 and the CLS
length L4 .
3.2 Length of outer MSRR, L2
In this parametric study, the effect of the resonance frequency and the values of r and r are observed when the
length of the outer MSRR, L2 , is varied. Figure 4 shows the
correlation between L2 and the resonant frequency, while
the relationship between the frequency ranges of negative
Table 1 Relationship between frequency ranges of the negative permittivity r and negative permeability r with gap G2
Gap (G2 )

Frequency range of negative

permittivity & permeability (GHz)

2 mm

4.04.224

4 mm

3.1043.264

6 mm

2.5922.736

8 mm

2.2242.336

Table 2 Relationship between the gap G2 and length L1

Fig. 1 The dimension of the LHM structure

Fig. 2 Boundary condition for

simulation

Gap (G2 )

CLS inclusion length (L1 )

2 mm

15.1 mm

4 mm

19.1 mm

6 mm

23.1 mm

8 mm

27.1 mm

Parametric studies on left-handed metamaterial consist of modified split-ring resonator and capacitance

609

Fig. 3 Relationship between the gap G2 and resonant frequency

Fig. 4 Relationship between the length L2 and resonant frequency

Table 3 Relationship between the gap G2 and length L4

Table 5 Relationship between the lengths L2 and L3

Gap (G2 )

CLS strip length (L4 )

MSRR outer length (L2 )

2 mm

13.1 mm

7.1 mm

5.1 mm

4 mm

17.1 mm

8.1 mm

6.1 mm

6 mm

21.1 mm

9.1 mm

7.1 mm

8 mm

25.1 mm

10.1 mm

8.1 mm

11.1 mm

9.1 mm

12.1 mm

10.1 mm

Table 4 Relationship between frequency ranges of negative permittivity r and negative permeability r with length L2
MSRR outer length (L2 )

MSRR inner length (L3 )

Frequency range

Table 6 Relationship between the lengths L2 and L1

of negative permittivity &

MSRR outer length (L2 )

CLS inclusion length (L1 )

permeability (GHz)
7.1 mm

13.1 mm

7.1 mm

4.7624.936

8.1 mm

14.1 mm

8.1 mm

4.4264.552

9.1 mm

15.1 mm

9.1 mm

4.0844.264

10.1 mm

16.1 mm

10.1 mm

3.8084.036

11.1 mm

17.1 mm

11.1 mm

3.5683.808

12.1 mm

18.1 mm

12.1 mm

3.3583.736

permittivity r and negative permeability r with length L2

is shown in Table 4. The increment of the L2 makes the resonance frequency of the LHM shifted to the lower region.
As a result, the range of negative r and r also shifted
to the lower frequency region. Parameters L3 , L1 , and L4
are changed as L2 varies. Table 5 shows the relationship
between the MSRR outer length L2 with the MSRR inner
length L3 . Table 6 shows the relationship between MSRR
outer length L2 with the CLS inclusion length L1 , while Table 7 shows the relationship between the MSRR outer length
L2 and the CLS strip length L4 . As can be seen from these
three tables, the values of L3 , L1 , and L4 as the MSRR outer

length L2 increase . This can be describe as the size increment of the LHM will shift the resonance frequency and the
range of negative r and r to a lower frequency region. The
effect of the resonant frequency and the values of r and r
are observed when the length of the outer MSRR, L2 , is varied.

4 Conclusions
In conclusion, the parameters G2 and L2 have strong influence on the resonant frequency and the frequency range of
the negative values of r and r . The parameters G2 and

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H.A. Majid, M.K.A. Rahim

Table 7 Relationship between the lengths L2 and L4

MSRR outer length (L2 )

CLS strip length (L4 )

7.1 mm

11.1 mm

8.1 mm

12.1 mm

9.1 mm

13.1 mm

10.1 mm

14.1 mm

11.1 mm

15.1 mm

12.1 mm

16.1 mm

L2 denote the capacitive, C, and inductive, L, values to the

LHM structure. It is important as they determine the operating frequency of the structure. Those two parameters should
be varied accordingly if a large change in the resonant frequency is needed. Further works are needed to observe other
parameters of LHM on their influence toward the resonant
frequency and values of r and r . It is predicted that other
parameters would also produce similar results as G2 and L2 .
Acknowledgement The authors thank the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for supporting the research work, Research Management Centre (RMC), and Radio Communication Engineering Department (RACeD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), for the support
of the paper.

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