Finite-difference time-domain analysis of metamaterial-based leaky-wave antennas

In this paper, a novel technique for the efficient modeling of 2D negative-refractive-index (NRI) metamaterial leaky-wave antennas (LWA) is proposed. Specifically, the array factor method is combined with full-wave finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations of a single unit cell of the NRI metamaterial structure in order to calculate the radiation patterns of these LWA.