Highly Sensitive Terahertz Dielectric Sensor for Liquid Crystal

Abstract

This paper presents the design and process of two highly sensitive sensors working in the terahertz band. The sensors comprise the quartz substrate, medium, reflection plate, and metal resonant layer with a symmetrical single-slot patch array. The devices help study the electrically induced permittivity of two liquid crystals in different frequency bands and at different voltages, and the experimental data verify that both liquid crystals have a large birefringence. Based on experimental results, the sensitivity of the fabricated sensor is 47.03 GHz/RIU in the frequency range 90–140 GHz. Similarly, the other fabricated sensor has a sensitivity of 112.47 GHz/RIU in the frequency range 325–500 GHz. The results show that both sensors have superior sensing properties and potential applications in biological and chemical liquid sensing.

Keywords

• sensor
• terahertz
• metamaterial
• liquid crystal