A Novel Fluid-Reconfigurable Advanced and Delayed Phase Line Using Inkjet-Printed Microfluidic Composite Right/Left-Handed Transmission Line

In this letter, a novel fluid-reconfigurable advanced and delayed phase line using a microfluidic composite right/left-handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) is proposed. A CRLH-TL prototype is inkjet-printed on a photo-paper substrate. In addition, a laser-etched microfluidic channel in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is integrated with the CRLH TL using inkjet-printed SU-8 as a bonding material. The proposed TL provides excellent phase-tuning capability that is dependent on the fluidic materials used. As the fluid is changed, the proposed TL can have negative-, zero-, and positive-phase characteristics at 900 MHz for different fluids. The performance of the TL is successfully validated using simulation and measurement results.