Wire-medium loaded planar structures: A novel transmission-line model and relevant dispersion properties

A transmission-line model is developed for the analysis of planar waveguides including wire-medium slabs with vertically aligned wires. The developed network formalism allows for an effective determination of the modal dispersion equation via transverse resonance, as opposed to the more cumbersome field-matching approach. Closed and open parallel-plate waveguides loaded with wire medium are considered. The suppression of undesired TEM-mode propagation and the possible achievement of a unimodal regime are investigated. Numerical results, validated also against state-of-the-art simulation software, confirm the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Dispersion relations of complex modes are obtained for a class of leaky-wave antennas based on open wire-medium layered structures covered by partially reflecting screens.