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A full wave finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) combined with thin-wire and thin-slot algorithms to analyze a metamaterial fabricated with periodic mushroom structures, is proposed in this dissertation. This proposed method is suitable for analyzing problems involving large structures with fine structural details. A periodic analysis for mushroom structures is presented. Only a single unit mushroom cell is required to present the phenomena of infinite periodicity with the help of periodic boundary conditions (PBCs). The composite right-/left-handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) approach is introduced and used to approximate CRLH metamaterial through lumped L and C. Finally, several CRLH metamaterial mushroom-based structures are investigated. A 19 by 8 flat microwave lens and a parabolic microwave lens structure composed of 410 unit mushroom cells are investigated. These structures demonstrate negative refractive index (NRI) characteristics while operate in the left-hand (LH) region. The simulation and measurement results of one- and two-dimensional CRLH mushroom-based structures are compared.

Yes / A feasibility study of a novel configuration for a super-wide impedance planar antenna is presented based on a 2 × 2 microstrip patch antenna (MPA) using CST Microwave Studio. The antenna comprises a symmetrical arrangement of four-square patches that are interconnected to each other with cross-shaped high impedance microstrip lines. The antenna array is excited through a single feedline connected to one of the patches. The proposed antenna array configuration overcomes the main drawback of conventional MPA with a narrow bandwidth that is typically <5%. The antenna exhibits a super-wide frequency bandwidth from 20 GHz to 120 GHz for S11 < −15 dB, which corresponds to a fractional bandwidth of 142.85%. The antenna’s performance of bandwidth, impedance match, and radiation gain were enhanced by etching slots on the patches. With the inclusion of the slot, the maximum radiation gain and efficiency of the MPA increased to 15.11 dBi and 85.79% at 80 GHz, which showed an improvement of 2.58 dBi and 12.54%, respectively. The dimension of each patch antenna was 4.3 × 5.3 mm2 . The results showed that the proposed MPA is useful for various existing and emerging communication systems such as ultra-wideband (UWB) communications, RFID systems, massive multiple-output multiple-input (MIMO) for 5G, and radar systems. / This work was partially supported by the Innovation Program under grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424 and financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/E022936/1.