A High-Power Microwave Limiter Using A Self-Actuated Plasma-Based EIT Topology

TL;DR

This paper introduces a plasma-based microwave limiter leveraging electromagnetically induced transparency, enabling high-power microwave protection with tunability, rapid prototyping, and improved performance over traditional diode-based devices.

Contribution

It presents a novel metamaterial topology with gas discharge tubes that switch the EIT window, offering a high-power, tunable, and easily prototyped microwave protection device.

Findings

Effective high-power microwave protection demonstrated

Lower insertion loss in OFF mode and higher isolation in ON mode

Device shows frequency and power threshold tunability

Abstract

This paper presents a novel metamaterial topology incorporating gas discharge tubes for high-power microwave protection. The design features two split ring resonators positioned side by side with their splits oriented orthogonally. When exposed to low-power microwaves, each split ring resonator induces a resonance that interacts to create a passband within a broad stopband, facilitated by a phenomenon known as electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). At high power levels, the integrated gas discharge tubes become ionized, forming plasma that acts as a switch to eliminate the EIT window, thereby reinstating the stopband for protection. Several prototypes have been developed for S-band operation based on this concept. Analytical, numerical, and experimental results are in complete agreement. The proposed device demonstrates superior protection with lower insertion loss in the OFF mode and higher isolation in the ON mode. Its strong ability to handle high-power microwaves is achieved using plasma-based switches instead of diodes, providing a reasonable response time and a straightforward design that enables rapid prototyping. Additionally, the device demonstrates frequency and power threshold tunability, highlighting its versatility as a microwave protection device.