Experiments with SQUID-based metamaterials

Metamaterials consist of elements that are artificially created to obtain a specific, predetermined interaction with an electromagnetic wave. The size of individual elements is much smaller than the wavelength of the incoming radiation. Conventionally, split ring resonators are used to interact with the magnetic field component of the wave. The interaction with the electric component is realized by thin metallic wires. We designed a Josephson junction based metamaterial where the split ring resonators are replaced by rf-SQUIDs. The benefits compared to conventional metamaterials are that the losses are reduced and that the inductance of the Josephson junction can be tuned by an external magnetic field. This, in turn, changes the resonance frequency of the metamaterial, making the magnetic permeability, μr, tunable in situ. We will report on first experiments investigating such a SQUID metamaterial composed of a coplanar waveguide coupled to a one-dimensional array of rf-SQUIDs. The experimental results are compared with numerical simulations.