Improved Composite Right/left-handed Cell for Leaky-wave Antenna

An improved composite right/left-handed (CRLH) unit cell optimized for a leaky-wave (LW) antenna is presented. This CRLH cell consists of a series of one transmission line, an interdigital capacitor, another transmission line and a shunt shorted stub. Introducing the transmission lines, the parasitic self-resonances of the capacitor are shifted outside the operational band, the radiation range is extended and the transition frequency at which the balanced cell condition is achieved can be chosen in the design process from a broader range of frequencies. The characteristics and performances of the proposed cell are verified by simulation and by measuring two artificial transmission lines.