一种用于可调谐频率选择面的液态金属可重构电容器

Liquid Metal-Based Reconfigurable Capacitor for Tunable Frequency Selective Surface

提出了一种新颖的基于液态金属的可重构电容器,该器件可应用于可调谐频率选择面。这种可重构电容器由一对金属贴片和微流体管道组成。微流体管道包含聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)材料制成的主管道(用于控制液态金属)和与其共面的子管道(用于储存盐酸溶液)。由于PDMS具有良好的渗透性,在子管道中的盐酸蒸汽可以通过管道壁渗透进入主管道,并和液态金属上的表面氧化层反应,使之呈现真正的流体特性。液态金属液滴可以在管道道中自由的移动。最后,基于这种液态金属的微流体平台,开发了一种可应用于可调谐频率选择面的可重构电容器件。其调谐性主要取决于主管道中液态金属液滴的位置和形状。实验结果表明,这种基于液态金属的可重构电容器可以广泛的应用于可调谐电子器件之中。

A novel liquid metal-based reconfigurable capacitor is presented,which can be applied to tunable frequency selective surface(TFSS).The reconfigurable capacitor consists of a pair of metallic patches and microfluidic channels.The microfluidic channels made of polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)material have a main-channel(used to manipulate liquid metal),which is surrounded by a coplanar sub-channel(used to reserve HCl solution).Due to the excellent permeability of PDMS,the HCl vapor(in sub-channel)can effectively permeate through the channel wall(between main-channel and sub-channel)and reduce the oxidation surface of the liquid metal(in main-channel)by chemical reaction,which can make it be in a true liquid phase.Based on the liquid metal microfluidic platform,a reconfigurable capacitor is fabricated,which can be used to realize the TFSS.Its tunability is depended on the position of reduced liquid metal droplet in main-channel.The experimental results reveal that the liquid metal-based reconfigurable capacitor can provide a new route for tunable electronic applications in future.