Microwave circuits and devices

Microwave circuits and components have been around for decades, being inevitable elements in wireless communication systems, especially today in the expansion of a number of communication systems that operate at the microwave friqencies. Still, there is ever-increasing demand for their improvement in terms of size, cost, and performance, and in that sense we focus our research on analyis and design of passive components implemented in various technologies: waveguide, planar, and hybrid such as substrate integrated waveguides. We also investigate a very novel microstrip ridge waveguide technology with the aim to bring together the advantages of waveguide and planar technologies, and reconcile the need for the low-cost components and their operation in the millimeter-wave range. Besides conventional methods in design of microwave circuits, we also rely on advanced concepts such as electronic bandgap (EBG), metamaterials and „natural“ surface plasmon polariton-like concept to develop components with significantly improved performance and reduced dimensions.

Since microwaves are non-destructive and safe, yet having low-cost fabrication costs and excellent detection potential even in the case of small sample volume, we have also expanded our research interests to sensor devices that operate at microwave frequencies. We combine microwave electromagnetic transduction principle with other fields and technologies including microfluidics, 3D printing, and materials science to design the most optimal solutions for given problems. In that sense, we have developed a low-cost soil moisture sensor, which is based on microstrip structure and phase shift method, and whose operation does not depend of the soil type. Moreover, we develop microwave sensors for dielectric constant sensing to be applied in fluid mixture detection or liquid food analysis.

Project:

III 44006 Development of new information and communication technologies, based on advanced mathematical methods, with applications in medicine, telecommunications, power systems, protection of national heritage and education, Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.