Compact Dielectric Particles as a Building Block for Low-Loss Magnetic Metamaterials

We characterize experimentally a compact dielectric particle that can be used to design very low-loss artificial electromagnetic materials (metamaterials). Focusing on magnetic media, we show that the particle can behave almost identically to the well-known split-ring resonators (SRRs) widely used in present designs, without suffering from the Ohmic losses that can limit the applicability of SRRs especially at high frequencies. We experimentally compare qualitatively and quantitatively the dielectric particle with a typical split-ring resonator of the same size built on a low-loss dielectric substrate and show that at GHz frequencies the quality factor of the dielectric particle is more than 3 times bigger than that of its metallic counterpart. Low-loss and simple geometry are significant advantages compared to conventional metal SRRs.