Compact size highly directive antennas based on the SRR metamaterial medium

In this work, we studied the far-field properties of the microwave radiation from sources embedded inside the split-ring resonator (SRR) metamaterial medium. Our results showed that the emitted power near the resonance frequency of the SRR structure was confined to a narrow angular region in the far field. The measured radiation patterns showed half-power beamwidths around 14 degrees.. The highly directive radiation is obtained with a smaller radiation surface area when compared to the previous results obtained by using photonic crystals. The reduction in the surface area is ten-fold in the case of the SRR metamaterial medium when compared to the photonic crystals. Our results provide means to create compact size highly directive antennas.