EM transmission-line metamaterials

Metamaterials are understood to be artificially engineered materials that exhibit unusual or difficult to obtain electromagnetic (EM) properties. Such properties would include negative or low values of permittivity, permeability and index of refraction. In this article, we review the fundamentals of metamaterials with emphasis on negative-refractive-index ones, which are synthesized using loaded transmission lines. A number of applications of such metamaterials are discussed, including peculiar lenses that can overcome the diffraction limit and small antennas for emerging wireless communication applications.