Compact half-wavelength metamaterial Stepped Impedance Resonator (SIR)

This paper presents a λ_g/2 microstrip Stepped Impedance Resonator (SIR) based on Composite Right/Left-Handed (CRLH) transmission line for the first time. The SIR resonates at 2.1 GHz for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) applications. Supported by theory and full-wave simulations, a comparison is made between this design and its conventional counterpart. The CRLH SIR design presented in this paper is not only 44.76% smaller in length than its conventional counterpart, but also benefits from a much better performance. by proper structure design and substrate selection, this technique is also applicable to very high frequencies.