Broadband dispersion engineering of CRLH Transmission Lines for low signal distortion in backward regime

The design method for the broadband compensation of the intrinsic dispersion of a Composite Right/Left-Handed (CRLH) transmission line is presented. The design is based on Cauer’s method that is typically used for the design of microwave networks that must exhibit a specific input impedance profile over an arbitrary frequency band. Here, we consider a conventional microstrip CRLH-TL and the method is applied. The compensating network has been designed for linearizing the dispersion relation, keeping the left-handed propagation regime unaltered. The network consists of a series and shunt connections of inductors and capacitors, some of which exhibit negative value, meaning that a Non-Foster elements are required. When the compensating network is connected to CRLH-TL, a significant reduction of dispersion of broad band signal propagating through the line is achieved.