Patent ID: 7446712

Claim:
An apparatus for transmitting or radiating radio frequencies within a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) transmission line, comprising: at least one dielectric layer; a first conducting element over said at least one dielectric layer; a ground plane under said at least one dielectric layer; a vertical conductor extending through said at least one dielectric layer to connect said first conducting element to said ground plane; and means for guiding a signal along at least one waveguide within said ground plane and up through said vertical conductor passing through said at least one dielectric layer to said first conducting element, wherein said CRLH based apparatus is configured using equivalent circuit models that comprises Right-Hand (RH) series induction (L R ) and shunt capacitor (C R ), and Left-Hand (LH) series capacitor (C L ) and induction (L L ); and wherein the effective permittivity (e) and permeability (m) of the structure are manipulated by the choice of C R , L R , C L , and L L .