3D TLM simulator for transient and time-harmonic modeling of metamaterials with negative refractive index

Recent theoretical and experimental investigations of metamaterials with negative refractive index have prepared the ground for the development of the two numerical TLM models discussed in this paper. They are not discrete approximations of continuous media, such as typical finite difference or finite element formulations, but numerical incarnations of physical metamaterials made of periodically loaded transmission line networks. Therefore, they faithfully capture their characteristic dispersive wave properties and, when implemented in a commercial electromagnetic simulator with full geometrical modeling and signal processing features, enable computer-aided design and virtual testing of innovative components with novel, exotic properties.