Electromagnetic modelling and numerical simulation of patch antennas with metamaterial loading

In this paper, we review the electromagnetic modelling, the numerical simulation and the design of patch antennas loaded with metamaterials. The employment of these artificially engineered artificial metamaterials allows to obtain miniaturized (i.e. truly sub-wavelength) radiators. Interestingly, the proposed antennas, even if electrically small, work as resonating radiators and, thus, can be easily matched. The remaining performances of these antennas (directivity, radiation efficiency, gain) are also very promising, especially if compared with conventional small antennas. These promising results are now under the experimental verification in a collaborative international project within the European Network of Excellence METAMORPHOSE.