Microfluidic reconfigurable nested split ring-regular ring transmitarray unit cell

A reconfigurable, circularly polarized transmitarray unit cell consisting of double layer nested split ring-regular ring formed as microfluidic channels inside Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is designed and fabricated. The operation of the unit cell is based on the element rotation method. The liquid metal is injected into the channels and it forms the conductive part in the structures whereas the split region in the outer ring is air. The movement of the liquid metal together with the split around the outer ring realizes the rotation of the element around its surface normal. The rotation of the element provides a phase shift proportional to the rotation angle and the phase of the transmitted wave can be tuned by controlling this rotation using micropumps. The unit cell is designed to operate at 8.15 GHz and it can be easily scaled to other frequencies.