Recent Research on Materials for Microwave Applications

Microwave technologies such as cellular communication, WiFi, radar, GPS, etc. have revolutionized a number of modern human endeavors. Although many principles in microwave engineering are based on Maxwell’s equations established in the 1800’s, advancements and breakthroughs in materials have contributed dramatically in a large number of microwave applications. For example, research accomplishments in semiconductor materials and corresponding devices have been the direct enabler for the modern personal wireless devices. More recently, progresses in material research have also been driven by and/or applied to microwave techniques. For example, higher temperature superconductor materials (discovered in 1986), photonic or electromagnetic bandgap materials (invented in 1986), nano-materials, meta-materials, 3D printable materials, etc. have all attracted great interests in the microwave engineering community. This author has personal experiences in studying the fundamental properties, as well as exploring applications of these materials in the microwave regime. In this talk, a review of some of these materials and some future perspectives will be given.