Optimal Excitation and Readout of Resonators Used as Wireless Passive Sensors

Abstract

Resonators are passive time-invariant components that do not produce a frequency shift. However, they respond to an excitation signal close to resonance with an oscillation at their natural frequencies with exponentially decreasing amplitudes. If resonators are connected to antennas, they form purely passive sensors that can be read remotely. In this work, we model the external excitation of a resonator with different excitation signals and its subsequent decay characteristics analytically as well as numerically. The analytical modeling explains the properties of the resonator during transient response and decay behavior. The analytical modeling clarifies how natural oscillations are generated in a linear time-invariant system, even if their spectrum was not included in the stimulation spectrum. In addition, it enables the readout signals to be optimized in terms of duration and bandwidth.