The analysis of materials plays a critical role in ensuring product quality, driving innovation, improving cost-effectiveness, and maintaining safety standards across a wide range of industries. An effective method for material characterization involves evaluating permittivity using sensors based on metamaterials, which are renowned for their ability to provide fast and accurate results. A new sensor, the dual-band octagonal Complementary Split Ring Resonator, has been developed using metamaterial technology to measure the dielectric properties of materials. This sensor is fabricated on an affordable FR4 substrate with a 50 Ω microstrip line and has undergone testing with various materials to improve its quality factor and sensitivity. Noteworthy is the sensor’s consistent performance even when analyzing materials that slightly exceed the designated measurement threshold. The unloaded S21 response shows depths of −25 dB for the first notch and −38 dB for the following notch. Furthermore, the research also presents findings from various configurations of the measurement under test under different load conditions.

This paper presents a low-profile on-glass antenna solution for smart building applications that supports both WiFi and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) connectivity and can be integrated with glass doors and windows. As a preliminary step, five architectural glass types were characterized in terms of dielectric properties, leading to the selection of 3 mm clear glass as the optimal antenna substrate. The initial antenna, a rectangular monopole with asymmetric coplanar ground, demonstrated wideband operation from 1.53 to 2.63 GHz, covering the 2.1 GHz NB-IoT and 2.4 GHz WiFi bands, 1.72–3.9 dBi gain, high radiation efficiency, and a bidirectional radiation pattern suitable for coverage on both sides of the glass. To enable applications requiring directional coverage and higher gain, the antenna was combined with a dual-band artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) surface, implemented on a separate 3 mm clear glass substrate. This integration enhanced the forward gain to 7.7–8.4 dBi while suppressing backward radiation, with simulation and measurement results showing good agreement. The proposed AMC-integrated on-glass antenna therefore combines wide bandwidth, high efficiency, and flexible bidirectional or unidirectional operation, making it a strong candidate for next-generation IoT-enabled architectural elements in smart buildings.

In this article, we present a simulation tool for modeling a quasi-optical bench for material characterization. The model uses a Gaussian beam expansion and tracking analysis, together with a modal analysis to enable a comparison of the simulated reflection and transmission S-parameters to the ones measured with a 4-port vector network analyzer. A Thru-Reflect-Line calibration is performed to de-embed the simulated S-parameters of a dielectric slab located between two lens antennas, showing good agreement with the analytical slab model used for experimental permittivity extraction.

Experimental studies are key to investigating the physical and chemical processes that drive cloud and haze formation from gas and solid phase molecular precursors in (exo)planetary environments, and validating the theoretical calculations used in models of (exo)planetary atmospheres. They allow characterizing the physical, optical, and chemical properties of laboratory-generated analogs, hence providing critical input parameters to models for observational data analysis. In this paper, we present examples of (1) experiments performed with different facilities to produce analogs of Titan and exoplanet atmospheric aerosols from gas phase molecular precursors, and (2) the characterization of these analogs to provide information on their composition, morphology, and optical constants to the scientific community. We also introduce the recently launched NASA Center for Optical Constants (NCOC), which will provide this critical data to the scientific community for (exo)planetary-relevant ices and organic refractory materials produced in the laboratory from the irradiation of gas and ice precursors.

Laboratory experiments are found to be extremely important in the field of planetary and exoplanetary science. In this proceeding, I cover three aspects of my envisioned next-generation laboratory research and the previous and current works of our group on achieving these visions. I will include three topics: 1) using material science techniques to study planetary materials, 2) collaborative laboratory research on planetary and exoplanetary haze analogs, and 3) building a robust laboratory database to better understand various atmospheric and surface processes on Titan and exoplanets. I will also elaborate on how such laboratory work could power next-generation space missions such as the Dragonfly mission to Titan and the James Webb Space Telescope.

This paper illustrates the different possibilities given by additive manufacturing technologies for the creation of passive microwave hardware. The paper more specifically highlights a prototyping scheme where the 3D-printed plastic parts can be used as initial proofs of concept before considering more advanced 3D-printed parts (metal parts, for instance). First, a characterization campaign has been made on common plastics used by a 3D printer using the fused deposition modeling and material jetting (Polyjet©) technologies. The impact of the manufacturing strategy (high-speed or high-accuracy) on the part roughness, as well as on the dielectric material permittivity and loss tangent, has been specifically studied at 10 and 16 GHz. Based on a specifically optimized and deeply explained characterization method, the conductivity of a coating based on silver paint has also been characterized on such plastic parts at 10 and 40 GHz. These plastic materials and coating have been used for the creation of quasi-elliptic and tuning-free bandpass filters centered at 6 and 12 GHz and compared with a similar filter made of stainless steel by selective laser melting. Finally, a compact rectangular TE10 to circular TE01 mode converter also undergoes one prototyping step out of plastic before moving to an advanced part made out of stainless steel. This mode converter, which is made in a single part, is designed to operate from 28 to 36 GHz as a tuning-free final demonstrator.