Copper vs. iron: Microwave magnetism in the metamaterial age

Abstract It is now well established that metamaterials based on copper patterns can exhibit significant permeability levels, but can such materials outdo conventional magnetic materials? In the case where permeability levels and bandwidth are the key figures-of-merit, it is acknowledged that copper-based metamaterials can exceed the performance of ferrites at operating frequencies above 10 GHz. As for low-frequency operation, magnetic metamaterials may also be preferred to conventional magnetic materials when requirements include excellent temperature stability or immunity to external magnetic fields. However, in many cases, metamaterials need to include certain conventional magnetic constituents in order to compete with conventional magnetic materials.