Utilizing Metamaterial Characteristic to Enhance the Tunability of Liquid Crystal

Liquid crystal has a pivotal position in the field of tunable material. However, in the millimeter wave band, relatively small tunability of liquid crystal limits its applications. A design method utilizing metamaterials characteristics to enhance the tunability of liquid crystal is proposed. This design method embeds metamaterials structures into liquid crystal, thus tailoring a new tunable material, namely the meta-liquid crystal. By appropriately designing the metamaterials to meet the corresponding conditions, the meta-liquid crystal tunability can be larger than the original liquid crystal. Consequently, this work fills the research gap in improving the performance of liquid crystal in millimeter wave band. Simultaneously, a bridge is established between two significant materials: tunable materials and metamaterials. It implies that the performance of tunable materials can be manipulated by metamaterials.