Split Coaxial Cable Medium for Tunable Artificial Dielectrics and Plasmas

Abstract

We introduce the Split Coaxial Cable Medium (SCCM), a mechanically tunable, capacitively loaded wire medium supporting artificial-dielectric and artificial-plasma Bloch regimes with high in-plane isotropy. Its unit cell comprises coaxial conductors interrupted by axial gaps. Relative axial displacement continuously varies their capacitive overlap and series capacitance while preserving the transverse lattice geometry and leaving the unit-cell inductance approximately unchanged. Equivalent RLC parameters are derived directly from the geometry and incorporated into complementary analytical models. A spatially dispersive local-field model predicts the Bloch dispersion and isofrequency contours, whereas a multilayer homogenization model provides the modal impedance, closed-form estimates of the low-frequency Bloch refractive index and plasma frequency, and loss-inclusive finite-slab scattering. Full-wave eigenmode and finite-slab simulations validate the predictions. Over the investigated displacement range, simulations yield tunabilities of $46\%$ in the low-frequency Bloch refractive index, from $n_{0,\min}=1.42$ to $n_{0,\max}=2.28$, and $21\%$ in the plasma frequency, from $f_{\mathrm{p},\min}=9.45~\mathrm{GHz}$ to $f_{\mathrm{p},\max}=11.61~\mathrm{GHz}$, while confirming high in-plane isotropy near the $Γ$ point in both regimes. These characteristics make the SCCM promising for gradient-index devices, directive antennas, and tunable plasma haloscopes.