Design of millimeter-wave metamaterials using deterministic full wave electromagnetic simulators and path of ascent statistical optimizer

The paper presents the first successful combined use of the design of experiments (DOE) and path of ascent (POA) approaches in the optimization study for a 40 GHz metamaterial structure implemented in low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) technology. The two figures of merit chosen are the resonating frequency f_res and the corresponding insertion loss IL with the optimization goals of f_res = 40 GHz and minimum IL. The electromagnetic performance of the structure is determined with a full wave transmission line matrix (TLM) commercial simulator. The results of these simulations are incorporated into DOE and POA techniques. Statistical models are developed for the two output variables and then applied to optimize the filter.