Fully planar implementation of generalized composite right/left handed transmission lines for quad-band applications

Generalized composite right/left handed (CRLH) transmission lines are implemented in a fully planar configuration in coplanar waveguide (CPW) technology. These artificial lines exhibit two left handed and two right handed transmission bands alternating, and are therefore of interest for the synthesis of quad-band microwave components. The lines are implemented by loading a host CPW with open split ring resonators (OSRRs) and open complementary split ring resonators (OCSRRs). An accurate circuit model of the whole structure is experimentally validated. These lines are applied to the design of a quad-band power divider operative at the GSM (900MHz and 1800MHz) and GPS (1176.45MHz and 1575.42MHz) frequency bands. The main innovative aspect of this contribution is the implementation of the reported quad-band structure in planar technology, without the presence of lumped components. This is also the first time that OSRRs and OCSRRs are combined for the synthesis of a quad-band structure.