Sensitivity‐Tunable Complex Permittivity Sensing Enabled by Bound States in the Continuum in a Waveguide‐Resonator System

ABSTRACT Bound states in the continuum (BICs), featuring strong field confinement and theoretically infinite quality factors, offer a powerful mechanism for enhancing light–matter interactions. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a universal strategy to construct and merge two types of BICs in a compact metallic rectangular waveguide‐cuboid resonator system in the microwave regime. Leveraging the high‐ quasi‐BICs, a sensitivity‐tunable complex permittivity sensor is developed, with sensing sensitivity adjustable through waveguide‐resonator structural parameters. A first‐principles analysis establishes a quantitative relationship between the transmission coefficient and the material's complex permittivity, enabling simultaneous extraction of the real part and loss tangent. The sensor's accuracy is validated using commercial microwave dielectric substrates with well‐defined permittivities, and its tunable sensitivity is further confirmed through cross‐check experiments. Compared with representative microwave permittivity sensors, the proposed approach achieves over 90% improvement in frequency detection resolution and nearly fivefold enhancement in normalized sensitivity. Benefiting from its ultrahigh quality factor, tunable sensitivity, and first‐principles‐guided design, the sensor can be extended to different frequencies and structural configurations, while allowing convenient sample replacement. These features make it highly suitable for RF substrate characterization, laboratory‐scale material screening, and other high‐sensitivity microwave sensing applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Laser & Photonics Review
Published
2026-02-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/lpor.202502110
Primary Topic
Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Sensitivity‐Tunable Complex Permittivity Sensing Enabled by Bound States in the Continuum in a Waveguide‐Resonator System

Shangli Tang, Yulan Huang, Zi‐Lan Deng, Yihao Yang et al.
Laser & Photonics Review
Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research
article

Sensitivity‐Tunable Complex Permittivity Sensing Enabled by Bound States in the Continuum in a Waveguide‐Resonator System

Shangli Tang, Yulan Huang, Zi‐Lan Deng, Yihao Yang, Yuhang Yang, Yu Chen, Yinbing An, Tao Fu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bound states in the continuum (BICs), featuring strong field confinement and theoretically infinite quality factors, offer a powerful mechanism for enhancing light–matter interactions. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a universal strategy to construct and merge two types of BICs in a compact metallic rectangular waveguide‐cuboid resonator system in the microwave regime. Leveraging the high‐ quasi‐BICs, a sensitivity‐tunable complex permittivity sensor is developed, with sensing sensitivity adjustable through waveguide‐resonator structural parameters. A first‐principles analysis establishes a quantitative relationship between the transmission coefficient and the material's complex permittivity, enabling simultaneous extraction of the real part and loss tangent. The sensor's accuracy is validated using commercial microwave dielectric substrates with well‐defined permittivities, and its tunable sensitivity is further confirmed through cross‐check experiments. Compared with representative microwave permittivity sensors, the proposed approach achieves over 90% improvement in frequency detection resolution and nearly fivefold enhancement in normalized sensitivity. Benefiting from its ultrahigh quality factor, tunable sensitivity, and first‐principles‐guided design, the sensor can be extended to different frequencies and structural configurations, while allowing convenient sample replacement. These features make it highly suitable for RF substrate characterization, laboratory‐scale material screening, and other high‐sensitivity microwave sensing applications.

Laser & Photonics Review
Jinan University (CN), Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (CN), Guangxi Academy of Sciences (CN), Guilin University of Electronic Technology (CN), Zhejiang University (CN)
Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Precision Navigation Technology and Application, Guilin University of Technology
Openalex Percentile: Top 61%
Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research
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