Microwave Spoof Surface Plasmon Polariton-Based Sensor for Ultrasensitive Detection of Liquid Analyte Dielectric Constant

Abstract

In this paper, a microwave microfluidic sensor based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) was proposed for ultrasensitive detection of dielectric constant. A novel unit cell for the SSPP structure is proposed and its behaviour and sensing potential analysed in detail. Based on the proposed cell, the SSPP microwave structure with a microfluidic reservoir is designed as a multilayer configuration to serve as a sensing platform for liquid analytes. The sensor is realized using a combination of rapid, cost-effective technologies of xurography, laser micromachining, and cold lamination bonding, and its potential is validated in the experiments with edible oil samples. The results demonstrate high sensitivity (850 MHz/epsilon unit) and excellent linearity (R2 = 0.9802) of the sensor, which, together with its low-cost and simple fabrication, make the proposed sensor an excellent candidate for the detection of small changes in the dielectric constant of edible oils and other liquid analytes.