Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) originates from quantum physics, where a narrow transparent peak appears in the opaque band due to the destructive interference between quantum states of atoms and molecules. Similar phenomena can be realized based on strong-coupling resonators with a similar spectrum of transmission peaks and abrupt dispersion variations. These classical systems, ranging from elastic to optical, are named analogs of EIT. The sharp resonant peaks with high-quality factors in the spectrum exhibit powerful potentials in sensors with ultra-high sensitivity. In order to better understand the development history of EIT-like metamaterials and their specific applications in the field of sensors, this paper makes a brief review of the EIT-like phenomenon in metamaterials. Firstly, we conduct the universal mathematical formulation based on the coupling oscillator model. Then, we classify specific metamaterial designs and practical applications of EIT-like devices in acoustic, electromagnetic, and optical waves, respectively. We also summarize the recent technologies of dynamic modulations of EIT-like metamaterials and discuss future research directions.

Edge states protected by bulk topology of photonic crystals show robustness against short-range disorder, making robust information transfer possible. Here, topological photonic crystals under long-range deformations are investigated. The vertices of each regular hexagon in a honeycomb crystalline structure are shifted randomly to establish a deformed system. By increasing the degree of random deformations, a transition from an ordered system to an amorphous system are investigated, where the close of the topological band gap is clearly shown. We further present comprehensive investigations into excitation methods of the proposed deformed system. Due to the lack of strict periodicity, excitation of topological edge modes becomes difficult. We discuss chiral and linearly polarized sources as two different methods respectively. It is found that chiral sources are sensitive and rely on the ordered lattice. Even a weak long-range deformation can bring fluctuations to transmission. We further designed and fabricated metal-dielectric-metal sandwichlike samples working in the microwave band. Using a linearly polarized source, we detected the existence of topological transport in the deformed system. This work investigates excitation and robustness of bulk topology against long-range deformations and may open the way for exploiting topological properties of materials with a deformed lattice.

An endfire antenna with sum and difference beams is designed based on phase transforming of a proposed asymmetric spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure. The asymmetric arrays of grooves, with different groove depths, periods, and/or duty ratios, serve as transmission structure and transmit electromagnetic (EM) waves in SSPP modes. Due to the distinct phase constants for the EM fields on the two sides of the asymmetric structures, the transformation of phase difference for the EM waves is realized. Superposition in the endfire direction for the in-phase and out-of-phase EM fields forms the endfire radiations with sum and difference beams. A design procedure is proposed where operating frequencies of the endfire antenna are predicted with the dispersion curves of the asymmetric SSPP structures and allocated by phase transformation. A prototype is implemented to validate the proposed design principle. Sum beam operating frequencies of the endfire antenna are at 5.50, 6.60, and 7.09 GHz, while difference beams appear at 6.10 and 6.90 GHz. Good agreement of the results validates the feasibility of the proposed mechanism and design procedure. The proposed endfire antenna with sum and difference beams has broad prospect in direction finding, tracking, and anti-interference applications.

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is a destructive interference phenomenon which has been widely reported in both quantum and classical wave systems. In an EIT-like system, sharp transmission windows appear within stop bands, indicating potentials in sensor applications. In this work, we design a planar microwave circuit with an EIT-like spectrum for dielectric characterization of liquid mixtures. The sharp EIT-like transmission window relies on the strong coupling between an open-circuited stub and a split ring resonator, which are sensitive to surrounding environment. Binary liquid mixtures of water-ethanol and water-methanol are injected into the container fixed on the surface of the sensitive area. Complex permittivity of the liquid under test affects both the center frequency and the quality factor of the EIT-like transmission window. Thus, complex permittivity of liquid mixtures can be further retrieved from measured S ₂₁ . Measurements together with theoretical and numerical analysis are discussed in detail and results match well with Debye function. We also analyze the achievable high sensitivity (5%) of the proposed EIT-like sensor when measuring solid samples with low permittivity dynamic range and conduct experiments. The proposed design is easy to fabricate and can be used to test various materials.

We report a gradient metasurface design at microwave bands as an elegant approach to realize the goal of “rainbow trapping” for the storage of waves involving wave localization and absorption phenomena. A longitudinally placed coplanar waveguide is loaded with gradient metasurfaces on both sides, where split-ring resonators (SRRs) are the basic cell. The same SRRs are arranged along the transverse direction to establish magnetoinductive channels. Waves of different frequencies are coupled to corresponding SRRs at different positions in metasurfaces. Resonant trapping with a long oscillation life time enhances the absorption caused by inherent losses of the materials, thereby suppressing reflections. Both simulations and measurements verify the existence of “rainbow trapping.” The proposed strategy enhances the interaction between waves and matter, opening an avenue for further component designs, including absorptive filters, multiplexers, and buffers.